Terry Fontenot on what to do with Kirk Cousins: ‘We have to do what’s right for the Falcons’

Cousins admitted that he was injured in the 20-17 loss to the Saints on Nov. 10 during an appearance on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” on Feb. 4.

Fontenot said the team’s “conversations” about the injury matter would stay “private.”

The Falcons listed Cousins on the Nov. 12 injury report with a “shoulder and elbow” injury.

In the next game, after the Falcons were blasted 38-6 by the Broncos, Cousins was asked if he was injured. It was noted that he was on the injury report before that game. He was asked, “Are you feeling OK?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good,” Cousins said. “That was a bit of a clerical error because we had walk-through, and when you have walk-through, they don’t really know what you could have done or couldn’t have done. If we had a full-speed practice, I would have, I would not have been on the report because I would have done everything.”

The NFL declined to comment to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution when asked if the Cousins matter would be investigated as a possible violation of the injury reporting rules.

The Falcons’ record dropped to 6-4 after the loss to the Saints. They went on to lose the next three games and drop to 6-7 on the season and drop out of first place in the NFC South. After a win over the Raiders, in which Cousins continued to play poorly, he was benched in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr.

When benching Cousins, Falcons coach Raheem Morris said it was because of his turnovers and not the injury.

After he was benched, Cousins would not use the injury or his health as an excuse.

Cousins, who signed a four-year contract worth up to $180 million, has a no-trade clause in his contract.

However, he’s due $10 million by March 12 and could be released, with the team taking on a $40 million dead salary-cap hit for 2025 and $25 million for 2026 or be the highest-paid backup in league history.