Falcons' Raheem Morris Fails to Own Decision to Bench Kirk Cousins

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris told reporters Wednesday that it was "a collaborative idea" to bench quarterback Kirk Cousins in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr.

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

NFL head coaches face difficult decisions on a near daily basis. Whether it's a strategic choice like when to use timeouts or something with personnel such as which players should play the most snaps, NFL head coaches almost never stop making tough decisions.

But when questioned about whether the choice to bench quarterback Kirk Cousins was his, Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris flinched in the spotlight.

When asked whether the Falcons organization considered the business side of benching Cousins and whether team owner Arthur Blank was consulted before the decision was made, Morris suggested Blank was a significant part of the change at quarterback.

"We discuss it with everybody, and obviously our owner's always going to be involved in what we do in more of a supportive role more than anything," Morris told reporters. "He is extremely supportive and has been since I've been here even as an assistant. He's been supportive with everything we've done from the draft, from free agency, from decision making, from things that we need, things that we want, the building, everything that we do.

"So, he's always going to be involved in those types of things. Obviously, it definitely has some financial implications for us in how you go about your process, but we're always going to make football decisions in order to win the football game, and that's always going to be first and foremost."

As a follow-up question, a reporter flat out asked who has final say in personnel decisions such as who starts behind center, Morris again stressed the collaboration in the Falcons organization.

"When you start talking like that, you might as well just walk out of the building and hand over your head coach's hat and your general manager's hat because these things have to be made together," Morris said. "It's a collaborative idea. It's a collaborative effort at all times, and that really doesn't matter in this building."

This might be an example of Morris being a little bit too frank with the media.

It's naive for fans to believe owners like Blank aren't consulted when their $180 million investments are sent to the bench. Some owners may even nix that idea because of the financial ramifications.

But at the same time, a head coach should never publicly imply he doesn't have final say with personnel choices.

That's not what Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen did when he received questions about who benched former No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson. Steichen definitive said it was his choice, and Steichen works for an owner who meddles far more than Blank.

That's also not how the Pittsburgh Steelers operate. Surely, Pittsburgh's general manager and owner have played significant roles in all the quarterback changes the organization has gone through the past two and a half years since Ben Roethlisberger retired. But head coach Tomlin always owns the decision of who starts behind center.

Maybe Steichen and Tomlin are lying. Perhaps Steichen and Tomlin have been told by their owners who to play at quarterback the past couple seasons.

Those coaches potentially lying, though, is still better than what Falcons fans got from Morris on Wednesday. He sounded like a coach hedging his bets in case Penix doesn't work out. If benching Cousins backfires, it was a "collaborative effort," not just his choice.

I would hate to encourage a head coach to lie to the media. But if Morris does indeed not have final say when it comes to who plays on Sunday, maybe that's what he should do next time rather than give us a verbose answer that only confuses fans about what's really going on in the Falcons organization.