TAMPA, Fla. – Here’s what Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins had to say after the 31-26 win over the Buccaneers on Sunday:
Opening Statement: “It was great to get a win any way we can on the road against a division opponent that I think was a really good football team. It took all three phases and people making plays – the turnovers by our defense and special teams and then (we) made some plays on offense. If you’re looking at where we need to be better – I think penalties hurt some drives. I think they have going back several games. You have those untimely penalties that make it hard to overcome. Certainly, the turnover backed up was not what we wanted. There’s a lot to improve upon, but you love having those conversations on Monday after a win. We’ll take it, and we will build from here.”
On what was working on the chunk touchdown plays in the first half: “I know we moved the football the two games [against Tampa Bay], but I do think coach (Todd) Bowles does some really good stuff – on the touchdown, he was doubling Drake (London) and (Darnell) Mooney. It’s a pretty good scheme, good look at how they were doing it. They drove the safeties over there and I got shutout, basically, I didn’t feel like I had anything over there, so I worked back and then Kyle (Pitts) was able to win against his defender. I just put some air on it and said go run underneath it. What he does so well once he catches it is his ability to pull away, which he then did again on his second touchdown as well. His ability to pull away is pretty elite. The touchdown to Mooney was just a great route by him, getting the separation from the corner and then just wanted to make sure we can layer it over the safety, which we were able to do. When you have a pocket on the first touchdown to Kyle, being able to progress and get backside and having a pocket to do that, it makes such a difference to me. It happened again on the touchdown to Mooney, taking a five-step drop from the gun and having time and then the touchdown to Bijan (Robinson), he’s really my fifth option in the progression – just having the time in the pocket to be able to tick across makes such a difference for me as a progression passer.”
On his speech to the team on Friday leading up to today’s game: “We had a team meeting on Friday and I just asked Rah (Raheem Morris) if I could address the team. I just had a thought coming out of the Seattle game, kind of where we are and where we have to go and today was the first step in the direction we’re trying to go and we’ll keep building from here.”
On why he decided to hold the team meeting on Friday: “He (Morris) told me I could talk to them on Friday. I reached out to him on Tuesday, and he said we will give you the slot on Friday.”
On why he decided to have a meeting after the Seattle loss: “Because this league beats you up and it tests you every day. It just kicks you down and you gotta get back up. Sometimes I need to encourage myself and when I was encouraging myself, I thought ‘maybe somebody else could use this too,’ so I thought to Rah if somebody else is feeling it like me then maybe I could help them back up – that was kind of the thought.”
On what was the message was in the meeting: “I’ll kind of leave it to our football team. I would have invited you if I really wanted you to hear it (laughs). Maybe the next one I’ll give Mark an invite. It was centered around tough times don’t last, tough people do – staying the course and trying to get some wins in before the bye.”
On him tearing his ACL in Week 8 of last season: “That’s exactly right – I’m glad you reminded me of that. I’m not joking – I went out to practice this week and was grateful to be practicing and was reminded of that.”
On looking like Patrick Mahomes: “Let’s not get carried away. I do think that as a player, I want to do more of that. I’ve always said to my coaches, ‘I can do some of that. I don’t do it enough.’ When you’re a progression passer and you get to Kyle [Pitts] on the backside or Bijan [Robinson] for the touchdown, you’re like, ‘Do I really want to leave the pocket and take off and run or do I want to get the progressions,’ and it’s hard to be both. It’s really hard. Thankfully, in that moment, I just felt instinctively to seize part. I felt like I should just take off. I got a little bit out of rhythm on my drop. And so, it was nice to do that. If I could have my way, I would probably do more of that than less. So, hopefully, we can fit that more into my game moving forward.”
On the music playing in the locker room: “We’re enjoying winning. And, we had the music playing and I was just going to soak in that for a minute and was kind of celebrating with the guys. It wasn’t the Swag Surf. You know, it was about going on the road. Going into someone’s trap. And trying to take over their trap.”
On the usage of play-action today: “You know, we kind of had a mixed bag. I think the second drive of the game we had a big explosive to [WR Darnell] Mooney on a play action, but then we had the sack on a play action later. A little bit of a mixed bag. So, it’s always been a big part of my game over the years and something I think we can do really well here, so we try to stay multiple in how we attack defenses and one of those ways is with the play action.”
On whether any part of him needed to have that 13-yard run to prove that he was all the way back: “Not to prove to myself, no. In fact, I was kind of mad again, going back to like the style of play, I was mad that I hadn’t done that yet because I wanted to. I was hoping the first quarter of the first game, we could do it to kind of put that to bed but like I said, it’s just something that is hard to mix in when you’re a progression passer and also be a runner. It’s hard to be both. So, when a situation presents itself, you want to be able to move quick and make a quick decision and in that moment, that’s what I did. I was mad that he did get me. You know, he kind of got me when I was trying to get the first down. I was hoping I could pull away. Ray-Ray [McCloud III] told me to lift my knees up a little more and maybe I could pull away.”
On not letting Tampa Bay take control of the division: “We didn’t get too caught up in the division with how much football there is left to play. We understand the importance of winning the South and facing a divisional opponent, but we didn’t talk about scenarios. I think that’s more either the outside or Week 17, but right now, just trying to focus on playing our best football and seeing where that leads.”
On talking to TE Kyle Pitts about his play at the goal line: “I just told him that we have a lot of football left and let’s just stay the course. Keep your head up. Because we will talk about the fundamentals and things on Monday, it was more about, we need you for the next three quarters. We’re going to come back to you. I think that was the message and then about five minutes later, Raheem walked by me and said ‘I talked to him so you don’t have to.’ So I said, ‘Alright, I wasn’t going to, but I hear you.’”
On whether he remembers having two performances against one opponent like he did the Buccaneers this season: “I don’t, to be honest. But as much as there was production, the next snap always feels very tension-filled because of the pressures that Coach Bowles can bring and what [Antoine] Winfield can do, and what [Calijah] Kancey can do and what Lavonte David can do. You never felt safe. I know the production was there, but it was like ‘Yeah, but can we do it the NEXT snap’ was kind of the thought all the way through those games.”
On TE Kyle Pitts being bigger, stronger and faster this season: “Yeah, that’s his game, right? Being able to really run and pull away and use his length and size and that was my message to him all through camp was if you play fast and play at your absolute ceiling with your speed and then play big, that’s where you’re going to be your most dangerous. So, if I don’t feel he’s doing that, I just tell him those two things. I need you to play fast and I need you to play big. And certainly, he showed that today in a couple of those runaways of what he’s capable of.”
