Falcons Surprised by Kirk Cousins Injury Comments, Unaware of Other Ailments

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Atlanta Falcons and quarterback Kirk Cousins appear to be headed toward a messy split.

Three weeks after Cousins claimed he played through right shoulder and elbow injuries during his tenure-ending slide from Weeks 11-15, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot largely refuted the notion during their pre-NFL combine press conferences Tuesday in Indianapolis.

Fontenot noted Cousins was on the team's injury report as a limited participant due to right elbow and shoulder ailments in the lead-up to Atlanta's Week 11 loss to the Denver Broncos, but he was a full participant over the next two days of practice and was taken off the final availability report, signifying he was cleared to play.

The 36-year-old Cousins did not appear on any other injury report before being benched for rookie Michael Penix Jr. prior to a Week 16 win over the New York Giants.

"He was on the injury report that one week, and when the player's injured, we put him on the injury report," Fontenot said. "And that's the only time he was on the injury report. So as far as we're concerned, that's the only injury we're aware of."

Cousins said he suffered the injury in the Falcons' Week 10 loss to the New Orleans Saints. The defeat started a five-game span during which he threw only one touchdown to nine interceptions while Atlanta went 1-4.

In Cousins's final start, a 15-9 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Dec. 16, the four-time Pro Bowler passed for just 112 yards, a season-low and the fourth fewest in a start during his 13-year career.

Morris, as he did when the Falcons first benched Cousins for Penix, said it was a performance-related move.

"You got to ask Kirk when it comes to injury related questions," Morris said. "For us, it was all about performance. So, the performance was not what we wanted. Hence, the change."

Morris cited decision making as a particular downfall for Cousins, who led the NFL in interceptions at the time of his demotion. Injuries weren't much of a thought, apart from the week before the Denver game.

"Kirk was on the injury report that week, as you know, leading into that Denver game," Fontenot reiterated. "Outside of that, he wasn't on the injury report, so we weren't aware of anything outside of that. That's a question for Kirk, any specific things about that."

The Falcons prioritize player health around the clock, Fontenot said. Doing right by their players is a regular part of the process with their player performance team, he added.

Morris said the Falcons didn't approach Cousins to ask if he was sure he was healthy.

"You go about your practice and you're practicing full and doing all the things you want to see ... and you go out there and play the game, and he was able to do all those things," Morris said. "We made it based on a decision-making process, based on not getting the job done and not getting enough."

Citing his natural presence at each practice, Morris noted he made the decision based on who he felt gave the Falcons the best chance to win.

Penix is the team's quarterback moving forward, Morris said, and Fontenot doubled-down on his statement in his end-of-season press conference Jan. 9, during which he said Cousins is the team's backup.

"Nothing's changed with Kirk at this point," Fontenot said. "Our stance is the same as it was at the end of the season."

The Falcons' decision makers expressed respect for Cousins and his agent, Mike McCartney. In specific regard to Cousins's comments, Fontenot said he will keep any conversation topics private. Morris added Atlanta couldn't control what Cousins said.

But the Falcons can control where they -- and Cousins -- go from here. Whether it be via trade or release, Cousins has been commonly tabbed as an offseason departure by outside pundits.

His contract is an important factor. He'll make $27.5 million guaranteed in 2025, and if he's on the roster March 17, another $10 million is added to his deal.

Fontenot said Tuesday the Falcons "understand it's not ideal" to have a backup quarterback with such a high cap number.

"Now, when we gave him that contract, the expectation was for him to be the starter at this point, and so that is a good number for a starting quarterback," Fontenot said. "But now that he's the backup, when we say we're comfortable, we're talking about the total funds allocated to the quarterback position, and that's already baked in.

"And so, it was baked in for him to start at that point, but now as a backup -- again, he handled himself well at the end of the season, and so when you look at our team, we're comfortable at this point."

But with the official start of free agency just over two weeks away, the two sides are now locked in a back-and-forth he-said, she-said argument.

And that hardly seems comfortable.