No player in the NFL wants to have their starting role removed, especially not a team’s franchise quarterback. 

Atlanta Falcons veteran Kirk Cousins had to deal with that reality ahead of Week 15, amid a division title race no less, when head coach Raheem Morris said he was turning to Michael Penix Jr. to play under center. 

Cousins had been struggling despite coming off a 15-9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders the week prior. Before that game, four straight losses saw Atlanta dip under .500. So, Morris had Penix face the New York Giants for his first career start. 

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Speaking with Fox News Digital on Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl LIX, Penix explained the key advice he gathered from Cousins, who he had watched and studied all season.

"Just let the game come to you and be patient," Penix said while also discussing his partnership with Sharpie. "Even if you call a shot play, or a big play, you don’t have to take the big play if it’s not there. A lot of the stuff I learned from him was a lot of visual things, just the way he moved through his progression, getting to his fifth read, that’s hard to do, especially at the level we’re playing at. Hearing him in meetings talking about how he got to that last read, how he canceled out stuff early and stuff like that, it helped me out when I got in there early."

Penix’s first start didn’t see his first career touchdown pass, but he went 18-for-27 for 202 yards with an interception. With help from his defense, which scored two touchdowns on the lowly Giants, the Falcons won 34-7, hitting 8-7 on the season. 

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Penix said the usual jitters weren’t there thanks to seeing a few snaps in losses earlier in the season, as well as preseason play. But he also knows nothing can prepare you for that first start… unless you’re acting like a starter each week. 

He said his biggest takeaway from the season was having the mindset of always being ready, which may need to happen next year as well with Cousins remaining under contract despite Morris turning to his young rookie at the end of the season. 

"I feel like I always had to be ready because I didn’t know when my time was going to be," he said. "Whenever it did come, I wanted to be ready for that moment. Each and every day, I prepared like I was the starter. I prepared like I was going to be out there. So, whenever that moment did come, it didn’t seem like a surprise for me."

Penix couldn’t lead the Falcons to the NFC South title, losing his final two starts of his rookie campaign. However, he showed flashes of why the Falcons were so high on him with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. 

Heading into his sophomore season, Penix will continue working hard with his mindset not changing. But his experience with Cousins shows that, while the veteran gunslinger wants to remain a starter in the league, he’s willing to teach the next generation in his quarterbacks room. 

Penix was among Sharpie’s "Rookies of the Year," which marked the inaugural class as they headed into their professional journeys. From signing day, to his My Cause My Cleats this season, Sharpie has allowed Penix to add a personal touch to his rookie moments. 

Now, he’s ready to "pass the pen" to the next class, which includes top NFL prospects Ashton Jeanty out of Boise State and Tetairoa McMillan from Arizona. He shared his love for their respective game. 

"Those two in particular, I played against T-Mac, McMillan, just seeing him live, he makes big-time plays," he said. "He’s a great receiver and he’s going to do a great job in this league, and with Sharpie. I’m looking forward to it. With Ashton, the year that he had, coming second in Heisman, I did that last year, too. The year he had as a running back at the college level, it was something that was very special, and he was almost put at number on as far as yards and stuff like that. Big kudos to you guys."

As a lefty, Penix has had to deal with smudges all over his work from a young age. But he showed his appreciation for the Sharpie S-Gel with it’s "No Smear, No Smudge Technology."

"It was crazy. It sucked when you didn’t have that Sharpie pen in your hand, but I found the solution now, so I’m super excited to be able to do that," he said. 

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NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport floated two veterans who could compete for the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback job in 2025.

The Browns and Deshaun Watson restructured the quarterback’s contract on Friday to create cap flexibility for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, according to multiple reports. It also made it so that Watson, who signed a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract in 2022, will be back in Cleveland next season.

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But whether he enters Week 1 as QB1 is still up in the air. Rapoport said Sunday there might be a competition held.

"I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s veteran competition. Aaron Rodgers, if he’s not on the Jets, would be one potential option, Kirk Cousins another," Rapoport said.

Rapoport added that Rodgers’ future with the New York Jets could hinge on whether they trade Garrett Wilson. He said that Wilson might want off the Jets if Rodgers is brought back for the 2025 season.

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Rodgers’ short stint with the Jets has been nothing but tumultuous. He has 3,511 passing yards and 24 touchdown passes this year.

Cousins’ time with the Atlanta Falcons appeared to be over as well. The team replaced Cousins with Michael Penix Jr. following a narrow victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Cousins went on a streak of zero touchdown passes and eight interceptions over the course of four games.

Cleveland will have some options at quarterback. They could choose to go the rookie quarterback route, since they will likely have a high draft pick in 2025.

Going into Week 17, the Browns are currently fourth in the draft order.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The Atlanta Falcons have taken over first place in an NFC South race that is going to come down to the wire in the final two weeks of the regular season. 

However, the quarterback who helped beat the New York Giants on Sunday wasn’t Kirk Cousins – the $180 million man they signed to a four-year deal this offseason. 

It was Michael Penix Jr., the rookie first-round pick. Many were shocked when the Falcons called his name because they had just signed the veteran Cousins a month ago. 

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Cousins’ play, though, had been faltering of late, and one NFL Hall of Famer was blunt with his assessment of him this year after Penix looked good in his first NFL start. 

"Consistently mediocre. That’s what Kirk has been this year," Giants great Michael Strahan said, via the Daily Mail. "Whenever you’re a great player in your mind, you’re still that. But sometimes, your skill level diminishes, and it drops. 

"You don’t know when it’s going to happen, it can happen at any point in the season. I think for Kirk Cousins, it happened now." 

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The Falcons were 7-7 under Cousins, but head coach Raheem Morris made a change after Atlanta’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders saw more maligned offensive drives just like the ones in recent weeks with Cousins under center. 

But the 36-year-old, who is coming off a torn Achilles from the 2023 season with the Minnesota Vikings, was a part of four straight losses before that 15-9 win over the Raiders. In that span, Cousins didn’t throw a single touchdown and had eight interceptions. 

So, after throwing just one touchdown and yet another interception, Morris made the switch despite the Falcons being in such a tight playoff race. 

Penix’s debut saw no touchdown passes, but he was quick with his decision-making and on time with the ball to his receivers as he threw for 202 yards on 18-of-27 through the air. He also had an interception on his stat sheet, though tight end Kyle Pitts juggled a pass near the goal line that was ultimately picked off. 

With Penix taking the reins moving forward, Strahan believes that Cousins must play the mentor role. 

"Keep him around, let him teach Michael Penix the intricacies of the game," Strahan said. "It’s good to have that veteran influence, but I think Kirk may have to just humble himself to understand that’s his role right now."

There have been reports the Falcons could cut Cousins before March to avoid the remaining years on his contract, though $100 million was guaranteed at signing earlier this year. 

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