FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons have a new high-energy and high-profile head coach plus a new offensive coordinator and a new defensive coordinator, but as the team wraps up its first offseason of this transition period, none of that ranks as the most important change in Atlanta.
That distinction belongs to veteran free-agent quarterback Kirk Cousins, who was added on a four-year deal worth between $100 and $180 million. No matter how much coach Raheem Morris changes the Falcons’ culture or how brilliant Zac Robinson and Jimmy Lake are at making the offensive and defensive play calls, respectively, it’s clear after OTAs and minicamp that no one will affect whatever progress the Falcons make more than Cousins.
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The 12-year veteran is the key to unlocking whatever potential there is in Atlanta’s three young offensive standouts — tight end Kyle Pitts, wide receiver Drake London and running back Bijan Robinson — none of whom have turned 24 yet.
When the final analysis is written on why the last three years of Falcons football didn’t work out as planned, the fatal flaw will likely be their attempt to develop those three around an equally young quarterback. That becomes clearer each time Cousins’ new teammates talk about his impact on the team.
“I don’t think I’ve really had somebody sit me down and tell me how to do things like he does,” Robinson said. “The cool thing about him is having a quarterback who studies so much. Just having a guy who can obviously sling the ball but is also really particular about all the details, and what he does (is invaluable).”
Several coaches and players referenced the Falcons’ second offensive meeting after Cousins joined the team. Robinson asked Cousins to discuss his cadence. The quarterback took out a notebook and went through a detailed, 20-minute presentation he had prepared on the subject.
“It was good for the players in the room to open up their eyes that this guy is about business,” quarterbacks coach T.J. Yates said. “When we talk about a prototypical franchise quarterback, that’s it.”
These are not things Desmond Ridder was doing last year. He couldn’t have been expected to do them in his second year in the NFL. Ridder was popular among his teammates and took seriously the mantle of leadership that comes with the quarterback position, but he was learning alongside his teammates rather than bringing them along.
Meanwhile, Cousins “commands the room,” Pitts said. Running back Tyler Allgeier marveled at Cousins’ “confidence to know what he’s doing.” Veteran offensive lineman Jake Matthews called him “just a guy who is on top of it.”
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Even veteran quarterback Taylor Heinicke, who appears to have been relegated to the emergency quarterback role after the offseason additions of Cousins and first-round NFL Draft pick Michael Penix Jr., can’t help but be impressed with Cousins.
“He’s probably one of the most professional quarterbacks I have worked with, just how he does everything, how he talks to guys,” Heinicke said. “It’s really impressive to see.”
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Cousins, who will turn 36 in August, relishes his role as a teacher in what amounts to an offensive elementary school in Atlanta.
“That’s probably my favorite part of the job right now is trying to help them get to where they want to go but knowing that they are going to need a little bit of help to do that,” he said. “I can’t wait to be a part of getting them to where they want to go.”
The Falcons will finish their offseason Wednesday with the final day of a three-day minicamp. From there, it will be a six-week summer break until the start of training camp.
As Atlanta’s players head to the break, here are six more offseason impressions gleaned from the first practices under Morris.
Robinson’s role still undefined
Robinson’s declaration in OTAs that he expects to be “more of a runner” this season, and thereby less of a Swiss Army-type tool, has sparked speculation that his role in the passing game will be diminished.
It’s been hard, though, to nail down a specific answer on that.
“In the simplest form you can possibly make it, just get the ball to Bijan as much as you can in as many ideal situations as you possibly can,” Morris said. “He’s so talented; you don’t want to limit the things he can do, but at the same time, you don’t want to water it down so much that there’s nothing he can do great. He can do so many things that you can get overwhelmed sometimes as a play caller or play designer.”
Bijan Robinson takes a trip to the end zone
📺: #ATLvsTEN on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/Quwvdzpx7G pic.twitter.com/H9NpDBxgCX— NFL (@NFL) October 29, 2023
Robinson set the Falcons’ rookie record for yards from scrimmage last season, rushing 214 times for 976 yards and catching 58 passes for 487 yards. Among running backs, he was sixth in the NFL in receptions (58), seventh in yards per reception (8.4) and 19th in explosive catch percentage (10.9 percent of his catches gained 15 or more yards), according to TruMedia.
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Robinson’s role in Atlanta’s new offense is “run first like I did in college and still have access to go to receiver,” he said.
Robinson lined up as a wide receiver 194 times in 2023, according to TruMedia, but he wasn’t overly effective in that role. He had 22 touches when lined up in the slot or out wide, and his total EPA (expected points added) on those snaps was minus-60.4, according to TruMedia.
Robinson, who participated in minicamp after missing most of OTAs because of a sprained ankle, fumbled four times as a rookie (losing three), which was more than all but one running back in the NFL. That doesn’t seem to have diminished Morris’ excitement about the player, though. The head coach said he was fine with Robinson speculating he could have the type of impact Christian McCaffrey has with the San Francisco 49ers.
“There’s something about that youthful arrogance that excites me,” Morris said. “I absolutely love that.”
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Penix on track
On the only day of minicamp open to the media in Atlanta, Penix worked on an alternate field with the team’s new players and fringe roster prospects. That’s not an indication of the rookie quarterback’s acclimation to the professional game, though.
“I think he’s done an amazing job” this offseason, Morris said. “His mentality shows every time he speaks to you guys, every time he walks in the building, in the meeting room.”
Though Heinicke took the second-team reps in Wednesday’s practice, Penix is expected to be Cousins’ backup when the season begins. The rookie from the University of Washington said his first weeks of NFL practices haven’t offered any surprises so far.
“Confidence comes from preparation,” Penix said. “Every day I come out here prepared, I know I can be confident in my voice. It’s just all part of the process.”
Injured stars on track
Veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett did not participate in OTA or minicamp practices because of the torn ACL he suffered in Week 8 last season, but he expects to be at full speed for the start of training camp in July, he said this week.
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“That’s my goal,” Jarrett said. “I feel good. Worked my tail off to get where I’m at.”
As for Cousins, he’s ahead of the schedule he thought he’d be on when he tore his Achilles tendon midway through last season. At the time, Cousins didn’t believe he would be on the field for OTAs or minicamp, but he has taken every starter snap in Atlanta this offseason. He expects to be at full speed well before the start of the season but is hesitant to put a timeline on that.
“I want it to be today, but you have to let your body tell you when,” he said. “What you can’t do is ignore what your body tells you.”
The big screen
Morris has made one very noticeable change to Atlanta’s practices since arriving. The Falcons now have an 84-square-foot video screen on the side of the practice field that runs instant replays of most practice snaps.
“Stole (the idea) from L.A.,” Morris explained. “There is nothing like going through a walkthrough or practice and looking up and you can give a player immediate feedback from something you might have missed live. That immediate feedback is so important.”
Cousins first encountered the sideline video board in Minnesota, where Vikings coach and former Los Angeles Rams assistant Kevin O’Connell also had borrowed the idea.
“I’m sure that’s going to take over the league in time,” Cousins said. “It took time for me to retrain my mind that I have that resource to be able to take advantage of it.”
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Popping up on the radar
CBS NFL insider Jonathan Jones made an appearance at Falcons minicamp, which obviously has no relevance on what type of season Atlanta will have this year but did continue a trend at the team’s Flowery Branch training facility. The Falcons received multiple visits this offseason from USA Today’s Jarrett Bell and Yahoo’s Jay Busbee in addition to the regular contingent of local media.
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The increased national media attention might seem trivial, but you can bet it’s important to team owner Arthur Blank, who would love for the Falcons to have a bigger place in the league’s spotlight. Morris’ high profile and the expected improvement powered by Cousins suggest Blank might be getting his wish. Now Atlanta has to follow through when the games begin.
Secondary considerations
Falcons fans were surprised when the team didn’t add to the defensive secondary in the draft. The defensive backs on the roster weren’t, second-year safety DeMarcco Hellams said.
“It definitely was something that the guys look at it as, ‘OK, if that’s what they did, then that says what they think about us, that they think we have the guys to get it done,’” Hellams said.
It may or may not mean that, though. The Falcons will leave minicamp with a full roster of 90 active players but could easily cut someone to make room for a veteran cornerback. Stephon Gilmore, Xavien Howard, Adoree’ Jackson and Ahkello Witherspoon are all available on the open market.
“There are always going to be Twitter GMs everywhere, but as long as we trust everybody on the field with the group that we have, which we do, the standard is going to be the standard for our DB room,” safety Jessie Bates said.
When cornerback A.J. Terrell missed time during OTAs because of a sore hamstring, the Falcons had Mike Hughes and Clark Phillips III as their starting cornerbacks. That might be a too-thin rotation for a team that will enter the season with win-now aspirations.
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(Top photo: Dale Zanine / USA Today)
