Is new Falcons QB Kirk Cousins ready for his first game snaps in 10 months?

Sunday is the start of the 2024 season for most NFL teams, but it's almost like a finish line for Kirk Cousins as well.

It has been a long 10 months for the veteran quarterback, from seeing his season with the Vikings end with a torn Achilles tendon in October to free agency and choosing the Falcons, to having Atlanta use its first-round pick on quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to not playing a snap in the preseason.

The waiting ends Sunday for Cousins, when the Steelers come to Atlanta (1 p.m. ET on FOX) and the Falcons open a season of optimism with the kind of quarterback they've sorely missed in recent years.

"The process of learning your identity with the new quarterback has been a lot of fun," first-year Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Wednesday. "Right from the beginning — from OTA days, up until now to the training camp, to getting ready to play our first game, and we're here, and I can't wait to get out there and play."

The Falcons have finished 7-10 three years in a row, but the addition of Cousins and Morris has ramped up expectations, with Atlanta as a heavy favorite among oddsmakers to win the NFC South, despite the Bucs being three-time defending champs. Cousins has been warmly embraced by his new team and his new city, and now just wants to return the favor by winning for his new fans.

"It's a privilege," Cousins said Wednesday. "Southern hospitality is a real thing. I mean, we've been so well received since March and every time, whether it was the grocery store or the barbershop or the airport, everybody has been so positive and welcoming. I look at [my wife] Julie when they walk away after saying, ‘Thanks for being here. We're pulling for you'. I say, ‘I better play well. We've got to win, because they are