Falcons' Penix Jr. ready but believes Cousins will rebound - ESPN

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. said Monday that he'll be ready if the Atlanta Falcons coaching staff calls upon him, but he knows the decision is out of his hands. In fact, he believes Kirk Cousins will be able to stem the tide this season.

Cousins is in the middle of arguably the worst stretch of his 13-year NFL career and has six interceptions over the last three games without a touchdown pass. The Falcons have lost all three of those games and have turned a commanding NFC South lead into a statistical tie atop the division with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team they swept earlier in the season. Cousins threw four interceptions in a 17-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

For all of those reasons, Penix's name has begun to come up among fans and pundits. The Falcons took Penix, the former standout University of Washington quarterback, with the No. 8 overall pick in the NFL draft back in April. He has been pegged as the quarterback of the future.

«He's a vet,» Penix said of Cousins. «He's been in a lot of different situations, so I have no doubt that he's going to bounce back from this and he's going to be great this weekend and for the rest of the season.»

Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Sunday that the team has no intention of benching Cousins.

«That's not going to be the issue around here,» Morris said of a quarterback controversy. «That guy has carried us. That guy has got us to the point where we are 6-6 and in first place in the division. We've got everything in front of us despite what happened today. It's up to us to bounce back and find a way to win football games. There isn't a better man than [Cousins] to go do that for us.»

Penix has only seen time in two games this