Falcons' Kirk Cousins updates status for Week 1 game vs. Steelers

New Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins remains confident he'll be good to go for the team's regular-season opener versus the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 8.

"I’m not fully cleared yet — not 100 percent," Cousins said during a Tuesday appearance on "The Jim Rome Show," as shared by Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "But to get reps, throwing the football makes a meaningful difference. I feel good."

Cousins suffered a season-ending torn Achilles while playing for the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 29, but that setback didn't prevent him from receiving a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M guaranteed from the Falcons in March. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated mentioned on Tuesday that Cousins "has looked like himself to this point" during springtime practices.

"It helps that I’m a pocket-passing quarterback," Cousins, who turns 36 years old in August, said about his ongoing recovery. "If I was a receiver, running back, pass rusher, I think there’d be even more concern. As a quarterback, my game is based on my right arm. Accuracy. My mind. So, whether the Achilles is 100% today or not, I can still be very effective as a quarterback."

Atlanta gave Cousins an unexpected reason to accelerate his rehab when the club made quarterback Michael Penix Jr. the eighth pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. Penix presumably could serve as Cousins' backup for multiple years unless the veteran and Atlanta agree to a trade next offseason.

By all accounts, Penix is working with the backups and understands he'll be an emergency option against Pittsburgh. On Tuesday, Cousins sounded optimistic about making his official Falcons debut on the second Sunday of September.

"I’m looking forward to kind of closing the gap to get to 100% in the next couple of months," Cousins told Rome. "We should still have a little bit of buffer time before the season starts."

As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Falcons as the betting favorites at -105 odds to claim the NFC South title for the upcoming season. Such information suggests that the outlet expects Cousins will be cleared to face what's known to be a menacing Pittsburgh defense.