After acknowledging he put self ahead of team, Kirk Cousins risks backlash

Cousins said that he made the best decision based on the information that he had, “but you also know that if you sit down Week 10 and take two or three weeks or more to let it heal, you may not get your job back.”

Cousins went on to say that he took guidance from a book written by future Hall of Famer Drew Brees, in which Brees “made the point that he tried to never let his backup see the field, even if it was somebody who was really no threat. … That was something that I was always aware of, that in this league, if you give someone else the chance, if you want to be Wally Pipp and there’s Lou Gehrig behind you, that can happen.”

No one should be surprised that Cousins hid his injury to keep his spot. The behavior is not uncommon in the NFL, where playing time and roster spots often are only tenuously grasped.

And for that reason, maybe Cousins’ teammates will not be bothered by his action or his acknowledgment of it.

But this was a team leader and the most important and highest-paid player publicly revealing that he acted out of self-interest to keep a backup on the bench.

Further, he did so when a) the team was fighting for a playoff spot (and the extra compensation that comes with it); and b) Penix ultimately proved the far superior option after coach Raheem Morris benched Cousins.

It’s understandable why Cousins would do it, particularly after the Falcons made the stunning decision to draft his successor weeks after signing him. But it’s not difficult to imagine at least some teammates taking issue with it.

It would have been one thing if Cousins said that his sense of obligation to his teammates motivated him to play through the injuries or that he felt like he could handle it. But his stated reason was to avoid losing his job to Penix, and the team suffered because of it. And he also confessed that he was physically limited by the injuries and that his drop in play led him to try too hard to make plays happen.

“And I think that can be the kiss of death as a quarterback, when you start to not let the game come to you, but go force it,” Cousins said.

If you don’t remember, in the three games after he was injured in the Saints game, Cousins had no touchdown passes and seven interceptions as the Falcons lost all three. They surrendered control of the NFC South and ultimately missed the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season.

Falcons administrators can’t be turning cartwheels over it, either. You’ll remember that Cousins began his time with the franchise by unwittingly subjecting the franchise to tampering penalties, including the forfeiture of a fifth-round draft pick.

At his introductory news conference in March 2024, Cousins mentioned talking with team support staff before he signed, which is one of those things that probably happens all the time but that involved parties know better than to bring up in a room full of media.

All this to say, Cousins probably is not someone you want to involve in planning your next surprise party.

This all may have little or no impact on the Falcons when they begin training camp later this month in Flowery Branch. But it surely doesn’t help.

Despite all this, Cousins comes off in the documentary as likable, funny and, the self-serving attempt to hold onto his job aside, a good teammate. He gets his hair trimmed at Great Clips. He is grounded enough to have remained friends with high school teammates. After he is benched by Morris, he accepts the demotion with humility and is seen being supportive of Penix.

Mixed with his desperation to keep his job at the cost of the team’s success, “Quarterback” makes Cousins look human — capable of both magnanimity and selfishness.

Netflix got what it wanted.

Presumably, the Falcons are less enthused.