Do Falcons blame Kirk Cousins for missing the playoffs?

Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons told just about anybody who would listen during Super Bowl week that ankle, shoulder and elbow issues he played through this past fall ultimately led to the veteran quarterback losing his starting job to 2024 first-round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. in December.

For a piece published Friday, Marc Raimondi of ESPN suggested that some within the Falcons aren't pleased with how Cousins handled his physical setbacks as what was a 6-3 team entered Week 16 at 7-7.

"Cousins played well over the first nine games of the season, including setting a single-game franchise record of 509 passing yards against the (Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5). Then, he hurt his arm and wasn't the same," Raimondi explained. "The problem with the injury uncertainty is if the team knew how severe it actually was, Penix might have replaced Cousins earlier, and the team might have found a way to end its playoff drought."

Cousins looked "out of gas" and seemed to have a "dead" arm as he tossed eight interceptions and zero touchdown passes over four consecutive losses. He then completed just 11 of 17 passes for 112 yards with a score and a pick during Atlanta's 15-9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in what will likely be the final start of his Falcons tenure. 

It remains somewhat unclear just how hurt Cousins was from Atlanta's Week 10 loss at the New Orleans Saints through the Raiders game. Raimondi noted the 36-year-old's comments about his injuries during Super Bowl week likely won't sit well with those running the Falcons this winter. 

"The Falcons haven't addressed Cousins' comments about being injured," Raimondi said, "but no team would be happy about not knowing its quarterback was injured or about perceptions it may have known but let him play anyway."

Many members of the football community believe Cousins would've signed elsewhere last spring had he known the Falcons would make Penix the eighth overall pick of the draft. Whatever did or didn't happen regarding Cousins' injuries will likely prove to be the closing stages of a marriage that became doomed to fail beginning on the night of April 25, 2024.