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Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterSep 9, 2024, 05:39 PM ET
Quarterback Kirk Cousins‘ debut for the Atlanta Falcons did not go as planned, but it wasn’t due to injury, according to coach Raheem Morris.
Cousins struggled in an 18-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in Atlanta. He had just 19 passing yards in the second half, the lowest total of his 13-year career. Cousins was 16-of-26 for 155 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions overall.
It was Cousins’ first game since suffering a torn Achilles in Week 8 last season. Cousins did not play at all in the preseason but was not really limited in training camp.
“I feel like Kirk is healthy,” Morris said Monday. “He’s been healthy since he’s been here.”
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The Falcons’ playcalling, under new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, fueled speculation that the team was trying to protect Cousins. Atlanta ran only one offensive play with Cousins under center, per Next Gen Stats. They ran 26 plays out of the pistol set and 22 out of shotgun. Cousins had never taken more than 10 snaps out of the pistol in a game before Sunday. In those pistol sets, the Falcons gained a total of only 6 yards.
Morris, though, said the offensive system had nothing to do with Cousins’ health. He said Cousins’ issues were likely due to “some rust from not playing for so long.”
“With Kirk being here, we’ve been doing the same thing since he’s been here, and that’s how we’ve planned on playing and we’ve played that way throughout,” Morris said Monday. “We’ve played that way for a minute, and we’ve done a bunch of different things in our case and everything we’re going to do is figuring out how to win this football game. And that was the plan to go out there and win the football game.”
The Falcons signed 36-year-old Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in the offseason. He was leading the league in touchdown passes (18) before going down with the injury last year.
The Steelers’ defense was dominant at times Sunday, with edge rusher T.J. Watt creating havoc in the form of 3 quarterback hits, 1 sack, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 fumble recovery.
“We played, I thought, winning football in two phases of the game, and we didn’t play winning football in our offensive phase of the game,” Morris said.
