Raheem Morris Details Falcons' QB Preseason Plan

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris emphasized Tuesday that he won't always sit his top two quarterbacks for NFL preseason games. But when sharing his specific quarterback plan for the rest of this preseason Tuesday, Morris suggested Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins likely won't receive a snap in a game until September.

"I would say for the quarterbacks, I'd say, yes," Morris responded when asked if Penix or Cousins won't play in Week 2 of the preseason. "You'd probably be about spot on.

"I wouldn't rule them out both completely. [Penix] for sure. [Cousins], we'll talk about but that's probably likely the same prospects for next week. And obviously these practices will determine a bunch the next two days."

The Falcons will face the Tennessee Titans on Friday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The two teams will have joint practices at Flowery Branch, GA over the next two days.

Joint Practices to Determine Falcons' QB Plan for Week 2 of NFL Preseason

Morris stopped short of calling the joint practices more important than the preseason contest Friday night. But the head coach clearly indicated that the joint practices will be a significant evaluation tool, especially for the quarterbacks.

Based on what Morris said, Penix and the first-team offense would probably need to have a bad couple days versus the Titans to play Friday. It's more likely Cousins could play.

But conversely, if the joint practices go well, then it sounds possible neither Penix nor Cousins could face another opponent until the regular season.

Morris followed a similar philosophy last year. Cousins, who was the team's starter and coming off an Achilles injury, didn't play at all in the 2024 preseason. Entering his rookie campaign, Penix played in Week 1 of the preseason but sat out Weeks 2 and 3.

Raheem Morris Explains Overall Preseason Philosophy

NFL pundits analyze how head coaches divide the quarterback snaps in preseason games every year. Some teams find it very important to play starters to get ready for the regular season.

But there's a growing "new school" of thought that joint practices are more vital and that quarterbacks shouldn't play in the preseason to avoid injury.

Morris firmly follows the "new school" way of thinking, but the head coach implied Tuesday that he might not always.

"I think every team is different and every year is different," Morris told reporters. "[The Bengals] changed this year because they had a couple slow starts. They're at the Bengals and they talked about it openly and they talked about how they wanted to do it.

"I think Zac Taylor changed his philosophy based on that this year trying to get those guys going and get them going fast. And that's their philosophy right now.

"We did not start slow, and we didn't have that issue, so that won't be philosophy for us. Those things change from a year-to-year basis. This is not written in stone. There's no hard-headed man upstairs telling us not to do things. That's just not how it works. It just works on how your team is."