Atlanta (AP) On the Netflix documentary series Quarterback, Kirk Cousins said that he persevered through a throwing arm injury from the previous season, in part, to prevent rookie backup Michael Penix Jr. from taking his starting position with the Atlanta Falcons.
Cousins mentioned an ankle ailment that limited his mobility at minicamp last month, saying he realized after the previous season that he wasn’t as healthy as he believed at the time.
Following a significant blow to his right shoulder and ribs on November 10 from New Orleans defensive end Payton Turner, Cousins stated in the seventh and last episode of the second season of the Netflix series, which was made available on Tuesday, that he made the best choice he could at the time.
In a previous episode, Cousins told the training personnel on the sidelines that he had a really bad elbow injury, but he swore he was fine and never missed any time.
Cousins stated on the show, “My elbow lit up instantly, and I knew I irritated something.” I experienced a sharp pain that seemed to go straight through my elbow. As soon as my shoulder began to ache a lot, I realized that something was wrong. I had few other sources to rely on to obtain the strength I required after losing my elbow and shoulder.
The Falcons only placed Cousins on the NFL’s official injury report once throughout the season, in Week 11, when he was limited in his participation in one practice due to a right shoulder and right elbow issue. Over the following four games, Cousins threw eight interceptions and only one touchdown pass; the Falcons lost three of those games before losing to Penix.
Citing a 2010 book by Drew Brees that cited Doug Flutie’s instruction to never let the backup see the field, Cousins stated on Quarterback that he was worried about his starting spot and did not want to come out.
You might never regain your work if you sit down in Week 10 and need two, three, or more weeks to rehabilitate, according to Cousins. I always knew that if you give someone else the chance, if you want to be Wally Pipp and Lou Gehrig is behind you, then that’s possible in this league.
Regarding quarterback, Cousins stated that he felt somewhat duped by Atlanta’s decision to sign him in free agency the previous season before choosing Penix with the eighth choice in the draft. He claimed that if he had known the Falcons would select a quarterback in the top 10, he might have re-signed with the Minnesota Vikings.
Cousins stated in the season’s opening episode that her choice would have been different if she had known about free agency. Given how much we cherished Minnesota, I had no reason to leave, especially when both clubs would be selecting a quarterback high.
The challenging week for the couple when Cousins was benched for Penix was poignantly recounted by his wife, Julie, on the documentary series. Before leaving the house, Cousins called Penix to offer encouragement to the rookie on the day Falcons coach Raheem Morris invited him into the office to address the demotion.
His voice cracked as Julie Cousins said, “That’s the kind of man he is.”
With training camp starting in two weeks, Cousins, who turns 37 in August, is still on Atlanta’s roster. He was selected by Washington in the fourth round out of Michigan State in 2012, and this will be his fourteenth NFL season.
According to Cousins, who laughed as he recalled the exchange, his youngest son, 6-year-old Turner, comforted him following the benching by telling him, “It’s okay, you’re kicked off the team, because now you can spend more time with us playing football in the basement.” Those remarks made me realize that I might still need to play a bit longer before my boys really grasp what their father does, even though I had always stated that I wanted to play long enough for them to understand.
