Falcons Beat Writer Calling Out Kirk Cousins

Kirk Cousins is no longer the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. He might not be on the roster in five and a half weeks. That's when his $10 million roster bonus for the 2025 NFL season is due.

But between now and then, there is likely to be plenty of drama surrounding the 36-year-old signal caller, a lot of which was self created.

To recap, Cousins appeared on NFL Network's Good Morning, Football on Feb. 4. In response to a question about how he played this past season coming back from an Achilles tendon tear he suffered in Oct. 2023, Cousins mentioned a right shoulder and elbow injury he sustained in Week 13 versus the New Orleans Saints.

I think this is the play he is referring to. https://t.co/VqHsAwTsWO pic.twitter.com/FTlD4MlMCS
— BroTalk (@BKsquared7) February 4, 2025

The veteran quarterback never disclosed his shoulder and elbow injury to any reporters prior to his interview on NFL Network despite the fact that he faced similar injury questions the past few months. The Falcons most famous beat writer, The AJC's D. Orlando Ledbetter, called out Cousins over that fact on X (formerly Twitter) the day after Cousins revealed the injury.

We like Kirk! But we asked — directly — if you were injured — SEVERAL — times! Now, you go on several media outlets and tells everyone that you were injured! You called it a “Clerical Error” after the debacle in Denver. pic.twitter.com/ih3UI3zcXR
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoLED) February 5, 2025

Cousins received a lot of questions about potential injuries toward the end of the season when the Falcons benched him in favor of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. But at that time, Cousins, along with head coach Raheem Morris and eventually general manager Terry Fontenot after the season, said the quarterback was healthy.

"Going back to the turnovers, I think that's more probably decision-making than anything," Cousins said on Dec. 18. "That wouldn't have anything to do with any physical limitations, so I wouldn't say so.”

“No, it was just a football decision," Morris said of Cousins' benching before Week 16.

I hate using the word "lying" as a writer. It's difficult to prove and too easy to get in trouble for the accusation.

But how can Atlanta sports fans not feel like the Falcons, at the very least, mislead them in the final weeks of the season? Even after the season, there were crickets surrounding Cousins and his health.

"He wasn't injured. He was healthy," Fontenot told reporters after the season ended. "The play just wasn't there."

My friends in the Falcons press room on a daily basis tell me Cousins "actively avoided" reporters during the team's locker room clean out day. That afternoon, Cousins didn't lie. But he clearly wasn't offering up any truth.

Then, only with the chance to speak to a national audience, almost in the form of a plea to the rest of the league to give him a starting opportunity in 2025, did Cousins reveal his injury.

No wonder Ledbetter is upset.

I never thought Cousins had a chance of returning as a backup quarterback for the Falcons next season. But for anyone clinging to that hope, this should be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Without the possibility of keeping Cousins, the Falcons lose all leverage in a potential offseason Cousins trade. The bigger problem for Falcons fans, though, is Cousins likely wasn't the only one who was dishonest about his injury.

Again, Morris and Fontenot told the media the quarterback was healthy before his benching.

Very clearly, he wasn't.

Here's the biggest problem with this information ... COACHING is the problem!

If he's not 100%, he can still play - but you don't ask him to make throws he's physically NOT capable of making! Just like you don't call a designed run if he's coming off a leg injury.

Or ... you… https://t.co/EWj0Fsk9Vp
— Mark Zinno (@MarkZinno) February 4, 2025

Cousins could have been more genuine in how he handled his injured right shoulder and elbow. But it's not shocking he covered it up. His job was on the line with the No. 8 pick breathing down his neck.

It was the Falcons organization's job to protect Cousins from himself and make the best decision for the team overall.

Their failure to adjust their offensive game plan for the banged up Cousins or recognize an injured Cousins wasn't a better option than Penix arguably cost the Falcons a division title.