Raheem Morris doesn’t rule out benching Kirk Cousins ​​for Michael Penix, Jr.

The quote that landed on Twitter was not particularly ominous. The full comments were determined.

Speaking to reporters after Monday night’s sloppy and ugly win over the Raiders, Falcons coach Raheem Morris didn’t rule out benching quarterback Kirk Cousins. If anything, Morris strongly hinted that it will be considered.

The first question about Cousins ​​ended with this: “Can you rate Kirk’s game tonight and where you are . . . relative to him as a starting quarterback moving forward?”

“He’s got to play better,” Morris said. “And you know, obviously, you’ve got to go back, you’ve got to be able to look at everything. But you know, he wants to play better. He’s got to play better. We’ve got to find a way to get him to play better And of course we’re going to work tomorrow and that’s part of our process right? all the coordinators in the room, we talk to everyone, and we have to play better at the quarterback position.”

Look again at the question and then at the answer. It starts with Morris saying Cousins ​​needs to play better. It ends with Morris saying the Falcons need to play better at the quarterback position, without mentioning Cousins ​​or Penix.

While film study and meetings between coaches will be a factor, there is another important angle to consider. What do the players say to other players and to coaches? Are they ready for a chance after seeing what Cousins ​​has done through 14 starts — capped by five games with a passer rating below 80?

After giving his answer about quarterback play, Morris was asked a more specific follow-up question about Cousins: “If he can’t (play better), are you prepared to replace him with Michael Penix?”

The answer was far from “no”. And in this context, anything other than “no” is “maybe” at best, “yes” at worst.

“You know we have everyone on our list for a reason, right?” Morris said. “We’ve got so much to get better at. And kind of, those things are always going to be discussed. It’s just the nature of the beast in football. It’s just so much talked about at the quarterback position because there’s only one guy out there. You know, so like for us, man, our mentality is to find a way to win the next game and that’s just the mentality we want to have.”

With the Falcons facing a short week, and given the plan to meet and review film today, be prepared for the possibility of a leak, followed by an announcement that Cousins ​​is down and Penix is ​​up.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone if that happens, based on the things Morris said after tonight’s narrow win.