“Say less” is a thing that young and cool people say.

It generally means “I got you” or “no need to explain further — we’re on the same wavelength.”

But sometimes? Sometimes you’d just prefer it if someone stopped talking.

Quick links: Tech tops Clemson in 3OT | Hawks on deadline | Tax-free NIL cash

HE SAID WHAT NOW

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Kirk Cousins, currently the world’s most expensive backup quarterback, went on TV yesterday and finally admitted it: he was hurt.

And not the Achilles thing, either.

We’re talking about the results of a bone-rattling sack during the Falcons’ November loss to the Saints.

The one that resulted in him briefly being listed as having a “shoulder and elbow injury” the following week. The one he quickly dismissed as a “clerical error” — and then (apparently) proceeded to play through, laying three straight stinkers while all but pushing his team out the playoff race.

Which sure raises a lot of questions, you guys!

❓ Did the team know the extent of his injuries?

❓ Did they fib on injury reports for weeks?

❓ Will they get punished for it?

❓ Did they think a compromised Cousins gave them a better chance than rookie Michael Penix Jr.?

❓ Would they have won at least one more game (and made the freaking playoffs!) if they’d pivoted to Penix sooner?

❓ Did Cousins keep things under wraps because he knew he wasn’t getting his job back if he sat out?

❓ Is he just revealing all this now to justify his performance and make another team like him?

Some of those answers are pending (beat reporter D. Orlando Ledbetter has a line out to the NFL re: a possible investigation). Others lend themselves to easy theorizing (columnist Ken Sugiura is on top of the Cousins-looking-over-his-shoulder angle).

But most of them just lead to even more questions!

Assuming they thought Penix wasn’t quite ready, do Coach Morris & Co. know you can list someone on an injury report and still play them? Was Cousins getting treatment? Why is Cousins — whose off the cuff remarks at his introductory news conference already cost this team a draft pick — waxing poetic on the NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” to begin with?

How is it possible that Atlanta managed to make itself a national talking point DURING SUPER BOWL WEEK?

The answer to all of it, my friends, is simply … Falcons. The relevant parties change, but it’s always just the Falcons finding new and interesting ways to muck things up.

It’s a cycle we’ll never escape.

It’s Falcons all the way down.

DEADLINE DEALING

Credit: Jason Allen for the AJC

We’ve talked a lot about Trae Young’s future lately. But what about other possible moves before Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline?

As the AJC’s Lauren Williams writes, if the Hawks move anyone it’ll likely be Bogdan Bogdanovic and Clint Capela. And Atlanta’s been rumored or reported to have interest in several players, including Sixers forward Paul George.

🤔 Columnist Michael Cunningham says no thank you on George.

📺 On the court: The Hawks host the Spurs tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

📝 We’re still accepting responses in our poll ranking offseason moves made by other Atlanta teams!

NAME, IMAGE AND LEGISLATION

A new bill introduced over at the state Capitol would make student-athletes’ NIL compensation exempt from Georgia’s 5.49% income tax.

Which frankly seems like a questionable use of legislators’ time!

💰 The argument here is that other SEC states like Florida, Tennessee and Texas have no income tax, giving their respective college football teams an advantage in recruiting and retention. Because it’s all about the money these days.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE!

Speaking of football … today is National Signing Day. But the spring one, which is pretty uneventful these days.

😴 Don’t expect anything out of UGA or Georgia Tech, who already inked top-2ish and top-20-somethingish recruiting classes, respectively, in December.

GAME, JACKETS

Credit: Mike Stewart/AP

How ‘bout a three-overtime thriller with 23 lead changes for your first road win over the season? Georgia Tech men’s basketball pulled it off Tuesday night at Clemson, beating the Tigers 89-86.

“We can compete with everybody and anybody in the country,” Nait George, who poured in a career-high 28 points, said afterward. “That’s what I believe in and we all believe that. We just gotta keep pushing forward, getting better.”

🙏 The bad news: Point guard Javian McCollum left early with an apparent head injury suffered in a collision with a teammate.

🏀 Meanwhile, in Athens: The UGA men are looking for a little relief when they host unranked LSU tonight at 9 p.m. (which remains an unnecessarily late tipoff time). Watch on SEC Network.

PREP NOTES

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

The Atlanta Dream’s Brittney Griner (second from left) showed off her dance moves at a news conference introducing her and fellow signees Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. More photos here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Everything they've done with this team. … I knew it was something I needed to be a part of.

- Griner on her decision to come to Atlanta

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of Sports Daily. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.

Until next time.

About the Author

Tyler Estep

Before taking over the AJC's Sports Daily newsletter, Tyler Estep spent two years writing the A.M. ATL newsletter. A Gwinnett County native and University of Georgia graduate, he has been with the AJC since 2015 and previously worked as a reporter on the breaking news, hyperlocal and local government teams.