The Atlanta Falcons suffered an ugly 18-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday but with two tough prime-time matchups on the horizon, there’s no time to play the blame game. Head coach Raheem Morris met with the media before Thursday’s practice and was again asked about quarterback Kirk Cousins‘ rocky debut.
Morris did not want to sugarcoat his quarterback’s performance nor did he want to place the blame squarely on Cousins.
“We did not have a good game,” said Morris. “He did not have a good game. We were very clear about that. There was no sugarcoating it. And I think that’s what men do, right? He steps up to the challenge. He accepts it, like we all do, right? My fault that I played in that. The fault that Zac [Robinson] played in that. The fault that he played. The fault that people around him played in it. There was no blame game.”
The Falcons head coach expressed confidence that Cousins would bounce back in Week 2, starting at Thursday’s practice.
“I just know what he’s going to go do today — he’s gonna bring the urgency,” said Morris. “He’s gonna bring everything he has to do in order to play better to find a way to get that thing to the results that we want.”
Cousins completed 16 of 26 passes for 155 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in his Falcons debut. The 13-year NFL veteran had not seen live action since tearing his Achilles in Week 8 last season.
The Falcons take on the Eagles on Monday night then host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3 on Sunday night football. Cousins has somewhat struggled in prime-time games throughout his career and now the Falcons’ entire season could depend on how he fares over the next two weeks.
