NE Atlanta News

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Kirk Cousins is no stranger to the bright lights of Monday Night Football.

Cousins has played in 13 games on Monday nights with a 3-10 record. His three wins have come in his last four outings.

"I think if my play was dramatically different on Monday night, I'd go, 'Hey, I got to go look at this.' But when I look at it, I go, '(I'm) not really playing any different,'" Cousins said. "I'm still the same quarterback I am on other days and nights and mornings."

Cousins said he would love to be undefeated on Mondays, but in reality, the competition is often top contenders. It's one of the biggest games of the week for a reason.

In Cousins' last prime-time game, he and the Minnesota Vikings took down the eventual Super Bowl-bound San Francisco 49ers at home last season. Cousins recorded 378 passing yards and two touchdowns. The other two wins were against the Chicago Bears on the road in 2021 and 2020.

While Cousins is well acquainted with playing national games, he's also no stranger to criticism. Most of the conversation heading into the second game of the season centered around what went wrong in the opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Falcons committed three turnovers: two interceptions attributed to Cousins and a miscommunication between Cousins and center Drew Dalman resulting in a fumbled snap.

"I'm not blaming anybody — I'm saying myself — I've got to play better. I've got to operate better, and I was probably the center of it not being clean and crisp," Cousins said. "That frustrated me deeply because I place such an importance on that in running the operation clean and crisp. So that's what has to be better Monday night."

The Falcons understood the microscope Cousins would be under during this season. Safety Jessie Bates III said that was something they discussed back in OTAs. They concluded that Cousins and head coach Raheem Morris, in his first season, would receive significant scrutiny.

"Kirk is someone that is not sensitive to criticism. He's been there before, and I know he's a leader on this team, and I know how he'll respond to it," Bates said. "I wouldn't put my money on anyone else but Kirk when we're in those types of situations."

Throughout the week, teammates and coaches haven't noticed a change in demeanor from Cousins. He's still joking around in the locker room without riding "the roller coaster" of emotions through just one game into the season.

"He's going to bring urgency," Morris said of Cousins."I got all confidence because of who he is."

Several younger teammates like Bijan Robinson and Drake London will appear in their first Monday night game alongside Cousins who brings valuable experience.

"I'm sure they'll be excited," Cousins said."How could you not? It's a great environment."