The Quote that ended up on Twitter wasn’t particularly threatening. The full comments definitely were.

Speaking to reporters after Monday night’s sluggish and ugly win over the Raiders, Falcons coach Raheem Morris didn’t rule out benching quarterback Kirk Cousins. If anything, Morris strongly hinted that it was being considered.

The first question on “Cousins” ended with this question: “Can you assess Kirk’s game tonight and know where you stand?” . in terms of him being the starting quarterback going forward?”

“He has to play better,” Morris said. “And you know, of course you have to go back, you have to be able to look at everything. But you know, he wants to play better. He has to play better. We have to find a way to make him play better. And of course we’ll get to work tomorrow, and that’s part of our process, right? You watch the tape, discuss it with the people it needs to be discussed with, you know, we get all the coordinators in the room, we talk to everyone and we have to play better at the quarterback position.”

Look again at the question and then at the answer. It starts with Morris saying Cousins ​​needs to play better. It ends with Morris saying the Falcons need to play better at the quarterback position without mentioning Cousins ​​or Penix.

While film study and meetings among coaches will be a factor, there is another important aspect to consider. What do the players say to other players and coaches? Are they ready for a chance after seeing what Cousins ​​has done in 14 starts — a maximum of five games with a passer rating under 80?

After giving his answer about quarterback play, Morris was asked a more specific follow-up question about Cousins: “If he can’t (play better), are you willing to replace him with Michael Penix?”

The answer was anything but “no.” And in this context, anything other than “no” is “maybe” at best and “yes” at worst.

“You know, we have everyone on our roster for a reason, right?,” Morris said. “We still have to get a lot better. And these things are always discussed. That’s just the nature of football. There’s just so much talk about it at the quarterback position because there’s only one guy out there. You know, our mentality for us is to find a way to win the next game and that’s exactly the mentality we’re going to have.”

With the Falcons having a short week ahead of them and the plan to meet today and discuss film, be prepared for the possibility of a leak followed by an announcement that Cousins ​​is down and Penix is ​​up.

If it happens, it shouldn’t surprise anyone based on the things Morris said after last night’s narrow win.