Inside Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins, Michael Penix Jr. Star-Studded Dorm

Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks Kirk Cousins, Michael Penix Jr. and Taylor Heinicke are roommates with tight end Kyle Pitts at training camp.

Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. are roommates at training camp. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga.-- When Atlanta Falcons rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. walked into his dorm room for the start of training camp July 24, he did so with some additional -- and unusual -- luggage.

Among the contents of Penix's bags were a bin of trail mix and a Zyn pouch -- but neither were for himself. Instead, Penix was handling the responsibilities often assigned to rookie suitemates: Snack bearer.

The recipients? Two veteran quarterback counterparts in starter Kirk Cousins and backup Taylor Heinicke and star tight end Kyle Pitts.

Cousins wanted the trail mix. Heinicke said it was a light choice and Cousins should have gone with Sour Patch Kids or another form of candy. But Cousins, a noted trail mix aficionado, wasted no time making sure Penix's investment didn't go to waste.

"I was already cracking into it this morning," Cousins said last Thursday after Atlanta's first training camp practice. "It's good to have a little something there, and I'm pretty simple that way.”

Pitts referred to Cousins as a "big trail mix guy." As for himself, the fourth-year tight end has preferences much closer to the one Heinicke described.

"I love a good snickerdoodle cookie," Pitts said. "Or some fried Oreos, gushers. Yeah."

Yet while Cousins and Pitts requested snacks, Heinicke took a different -- and more continuously taxing -- approach.

"He brought me some Zyns," Heinicke said. "That was my one request. I told him every day I don't have a Zyn can, he will be fined. So, he's done a good job so far."

Penix, meanwhile, is a self-proclaimed "in the moment" guy. He likes fruit, but largely eats whatever he's craving, and that usually isn't snacks.

"I just like food," Penix said. "I don't really like snacks."

The varying personalities form together to create perhaps the most interesting roommate situation in the Falcons' on-facility dorms overlooking IBM Performance Field in Flowery Branch.

But this quartet wasn't hand-picked by any of the players or even head coach Raheem Morris. Instead, the task falls on Brandon Ruth, who is the Falcons' head of operations and manages travel and logistics.

Morris said he trusts his employees to do their job -- and after all, some aspects of team building don't extend to dorm life.

"I don't get involved with the buddy system," Morris said Saturday before Atlanta's third training camp practice at Seckinger High School. "I definitely didn't get involved in that one. I don't need Penix Jr. to learn how Kirk sleeps right now. He can tell him."

Yet Penix doesn't need help in this area -- he and Cousins are already quite similar.

Pitts said Friday after the second day of camp he rarely talks to Cousins in their dorm. They talk before Cousins goes to bed, but after the team finishes workouts, practice and meetings during the day, there's not much time left at night.

And Cousins doesn't exactly burn the midnight oil.

"I try and catch him right before he goes to sleep so we can go over that (practice) script," Pitts said. "He's nodding, he's yawning around 8, and I'm like, 'Oh, man.'"

Heinicke, pointing out that Cousins turns 36 next month, jokingly said Cousins goes to bed shortly after 8, though in reality, it's not much later.

After calling his family, Cousins usually goes to bed around 9:30 p.m. -- the same time as Penix. But on their first night in the dorm, there wasn't much sleep to be found, and it wasn't necessarily due to excitement.

Cousins said he's used to sleeping at 67 degrees, but the air conditioner was set to 72 degrees. Cousins woke up in the middle of the night in a full-on sweat, and when he arose to turn it down, he found there was a pin, so the thermostat -- and thus the temperature -- was locked.

"I go, ‘Oh, no,’" Cousins said. "So, I cranked the ceiling fan, and I didn't really sleep much."

When he was leaving the dorm the following morning to go lift, Cousins bumped into Heinicke. Sleep -- and temperature -- quickly became the topic of conversation

"I said to Taylor, ‘How did you do it? Are you a 72 [degrees] guy? My brother likes it warm but I like it cold,’" Cousins said. "He goes, ‘I slept like four hours.’ I was like, ‘Alright, we're getting that pin and we're getting it down to 68 [degrees] tonight.’"

Cousins added his goal upon leaving the press room Thursday afternoon was to get the temperature. Pitts said the day after that the situation was fixed and the temperature was set at 68, a welcome sight after a long night.

"It was beaming in there," Pitts said of the first night.

Like Cousins, Penix has a strict sleep schedule. The 24-year-old goes to bed at 9:30 p.m. and wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to prepare for the day ahead, a process that includes a stay in a hyperbaric chamber to maximize treatment.

Heinicke said he doesn't see Penix much at night. Because Penix is the lone rookie in the dorm, Heinicke noted he's often studying.

Pitts and Heinicke, however, spend lots of time together. Pitts goes into Heinicke's room each night to review the script for the next practice, and upon finishing, spend time talking shop.

Heinicke is also a gamer. He's been the dorm's most active EA Sports College Football 25 player, though he spent the first two nights playing solo. On Friday night, with practice the following day starting at night rather than the morning, Pitts played Heinicke for the first time.

And Pitts, despite noting the challenges of the game's controls, took an overtime victory.

"There's going to be some bad blood there for a little bit," Heinicke said with a smile.

As for the other two roommates, Penix and Cousins, some thought several months ago the potential for bad blood existed.

At the start of free agency in March, the Falcons gave Cousins a four year, $180 million contract with $90 million guaranteed over the first two years. Their plan was to let him drive the ship and snap a six-year playoff drought.

A month and a half later, Atlanta drafted Penix at No. 8 overall rather than addressing more immediate concerns at pass rush and in the secondary.

Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot's plan then became to allow Penix to develop behind Cousins, so when the four-time Pro Bowler eventually leaves the organization, there's a clear transition plan.

In a situation that some may view as precarious, Penix has embraced the opportunity to soak up knowledge, and Cousins is willing to provide it.

The two didn't spend any one-on-one time together their first few days as roommates, but they're in the quarterback meeting room throughout much of each day, resulting in a lot of time with one another.

In those meetings, Penix, who uses an iPad to take notes, said he takes an occasional peek across the table at Cousins's grid notebook. With a smile, Penix noted Cousins writes small.

Another form Penix is learning from Cousins is through the use of GoPro footage. Atlanta is having its quarterbacks wear the video camera on their helmet, serving as another platform to provide information and feedback.

For the coaches, it helps see what's being communicated in huddles. For Cousins, it's a crosscheck to see how he's coming across -- and how well his humor lands.

"I'll say a joke that I thought was pretty funny, then I'll go back and listen to it, and I'll say, ‘Don't say that. That wasn’t good,’" Cousins said. "Or I’ll watch it and I’m like I thought it was cool, but then I watch the video and I'm like, ‘I'm a nerd.’"

Penix watches Cousins's GoPro video as well, but instead of focusing on the jokes, he's looking at other forms of communication, like how Cousins calls the plays and takes control of the huddle.

Morris said during OTAs that Cousins injects his personality into play calls, and running back Bijan Robinson noted Cousins has an element of detail and precision within the huddle that aids his command.

And through it all -- from the trail mix to the GoPro and everything in between -- Penix is peeking, absorbing and saving everything he sees from Cousins, be it to his iPad or his brain.

"He's great, man," Penix said. "He's so smart and I just continue to learn from him and watch what he does day in and day out - how he carries himself and how he leads the offense, and just me, making sure I'm taking that in.

"As a leader myself, I like to learn as well. We need to continue to learn the process throughout this whole journey, so I'm going to continue to learn."