Michael Penix Jr. admission shows Falcons are setting him up for failure

"There's nobody that I talk to, as far as another quarterback or anything like that. I do have people that reach out to me. I do have a quarterback coach back at home that reached out to me, telling me 'hey, you need to clean this up.'"

To his credit, Penix has earned glowing praise from his coaches, who say the 25-year-old is doing everything he can to improve for the 3-6 Falcons.

Should Kirk Cousins take a larger role to help develop Michael Penix Jr.?

Many on social media have interpreted Penix's words to mean that Kirk Cousins has not acted as a mentor towards the player who usurped his position as the team's starting quarterback.

Cousins, who counts $40M against Atlanta's salary cap this season, has previously said he felt "misled" by the franchise after they gave him a four-year contract worth $160M, only to draft Penix a month later.

While it would be noble of Cousins to help Penix learn the ropes of being a starting quarterback in the NFL, it's not his job to do so. 

Morris, whose hot seat might soon be approaching broiling status, is a defensive-minded head coach; while he doesn't need to constantly be in Penix's ear, he should have a coach or coordinator or somebody to help his young signal-caller.

It's an indictment on Morris's tenure that Penix could not recall a single team employee when asked about who's helping him transition to the NFL, and a possible sign that the Falcons won't be able to salvage their season.