Don’t expect to see Atlanta’s top quarterbacks this week in the club’s preseason opener against Detroit.
Head coach Raheem Morris noted that Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins will not play in this week’s exhibition matchup.
“Penix won’t get out there, Kirk won’t get out there,” Morris said in his Monday press conference. “So, we’ll see [Easton] Stick, we’ll see Emory [Jones]. That’s probably the most definitive thing I can tell you right now. There will be a lot of guys playing, and there will be a couple that won’t.”
Penix, the 8 overall pick of last year’s draft, is set to begin the season as Atlanta’s starter after taking over the role for the last three games of 2024. In five total appearances, Penix completed 58.1 percent of his throws for 775 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions as a rookie.
Morris also said the Falcons will scrimmage on Friday, which will help determine the rest of the team’s playing time.
“Obviously, we have a young football team, so there will be a lot more people playing than we had last year,” Morris said. “We’ll have a couple young guys out there that’s got to go out there and show some competitive things. You’ve got some positions that are up for battles. We want to see some of those things happen. Obviously, that’ll happen within our own scrimmage, that’ll happen within the preseason games, and obviously we’ve got the practices coming up the following week. So, really feeling good about that and feeling good about some of those heathy competitions that’s going to occur.”
