What Raheem Morris said about Kirk Cousins, the QB situation in Atlanta

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons landed back in Georgia shortly after 1 p.m. 5 ET Tuesday, returning from a primetime Monday Night Football win against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.

About 12 hours later, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris held his weekly news conference the next day virtually. Kirk Cousins’ status as the starting quarterback was questioned, as it has been every week since the Falcons lost to the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 1 following Atlanta’s Week 12 bye.

For the first time, Morris could not or would not confirm that Cousins ​​will continue to be the starter for Atlanta.

“I think we need to go through the process,” Morris said. “I think you’re catching me at a different time than we usually have been. We’ve had more time. We’ve had more time to think about all the things we’ve been through.

“We’re in the process right now. We’re still looking at those things and doing the things that we do as an organization just in general. So we played a late game yesterday, going into the short week and doing some of the things that you have now is a different time frame than you normally talk to me.”

The Falcons defeated the Raiders, 15-9, to snap their four-game losing streak.

Cousins ​​completed 11 or his 17 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. The passing touchdown — a 30-yarder to wide receiver Drake London in the first quarter — marked his first since the third quarter of a Nov. 3 win against the Dallas Cowboys; 17 quarters of work had gone. On Monday night, he had one interception, his fifth straight game with a pick.

Atlanta managed 93 yards in Las Vegas for the Falcons’ lowest total in a single game. It was the first time the Falcons fell under 100 yards passing in a single contest this season.

“We didn’t play very well at the quarterback position,” Morris said. “We didn’t play well (Monday) in that spot. I like to be open and honest about those things. Those are always going to be those question marks. Those are always going to be those question marks when it comes to the head coach, when it comes to the quarterback and you have to be really transparent about it. This thing has to happen for us to find ways to win against our next opponent, which is the New York Giants.”

The Falcons are 7-7 heading into Week 16 when they host the Giants on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (1 p.m. ET, FOX).

Atlanta is one game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South race. However, because the Falcons swept the Buccaneers already this season, Atlanta has the tiebreaker, meaning the Falcons only need to match the Buccaneers’ record at the end of the regular season to win the division and guarantee themselves a playoff berth.

With the Falcons no longer in control of the NFC South as they were until their Dec. 8 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, there is a sense of urgency in Atlanta, a must-win mentality that hasn’t gone away .

With the stakes so high, it’s also why Cousins’ status as a starting quarterback has been called into question lately. He has thrown a league-high 16 interceptions — nine of which have come in the last five games, with just one touchdown and one win in that span. Meanwhile, the Falcons have another option waiting in the wings with their first-round draft pick, Michael Penix Jr.

However, the plan was not to start Penix as a rookie. The plan was for him to develop behind Cousins.

“We talked about bringing in Kirk, giving us an immediate chance to win, and then we talked about going out and finding a young quarterback that’s going to take us to the future,” Morris said. “Because we didn’t want to have that gap between Matt Ryan and then to the next person that we handed it to, which happened to be Kirk. We didn’t want to have that gap again. Those were always the things you want to think about .

“So, that’s just the initial plan of how you want to go about your business and how you want things to happen. You can never say it’s a downfall to hand it over to someone that you’ve invested a lot in i, someone that you brought in here, someone that you’ve done some things with, someone that’s done nothing but the right things since they’ve been here Just being really smart and careful about how we do our business.”

Whether Morris is open to changing the plan has yet to be determined.

“You gotta win,” Morris. “We’re going to do whatever’s best for us to win as many games as we can this season. That’s just our job. I know you’re pretty anxious. I know a lot of people are . But it’s up to me to stay steadfast and make the best decision for us to figure out how to win the next football game.”