‘Quarterback’ Season 2 finale confirms what many speculated regarding Kirk Cousins’ decision to play through injury in 2024.

The Atlanta Falcons got off to a 6-3 start last year, but their season took a nosedive when Kirk Cousins took a vicious hit against the New Orleans Saints in Week 10. While Cousins appeared on the team’s Week 11 injury report, he was limited for only one practice session due to a “shoulder/elbow” injury before returning.

Something was clearly off with him, though. The team went 1-4 over the next five games, with Cousins tossing nine interceptions to just one touchdown in that span. After narrowly beating the Raiders in Week 15, the Falcons benched Cousins for Michael Penix Jr.

In the Season 2 finale of Netflix’s “Quarterback” series, Cousins admitted to playing through severe injuries last year, indicating job security was a factor in his decision to play.

Cousins admits job security factored into decision to play with injury

“Once I lost my shoulder and my elbow, should I have sat out? Should I have done something different in my rehab? You know, you have all those questions,” explained Cousins. “With the information I had at the time, I made the best decision, but you also know that if you sit down Week 10, and take two or three weeks or more to let it heal, you may never get your job back.”

Cousins credits Drew Brees for ‘never let backup see the field’ mentality:

“I remember reading Drew Brees’ book back in 2010 when he first wrote it,” said Cousins. “[Brees] made the point that he tried to never let his backups see the field. Even if it was somebody who was really no threat. He just felt like you should never do that — that Doug Flutie taught him that. And so, that was something that I always was aware of.”

NFL players are rarely 100 percent healthy, but there’s only so much that you can play through. On one hand, you can understand why Cousins would be nervous about Penix taking his job. However, as someone that prides himself as a leader, he should have spoken up once it was clear his play was hurting the team.

Ultimately, the Falcons could have — and probably should have — pulled the plug on Cousins sooner. Head coach Raheem Morris gave his quarterback the benefit of the doubt for a few weeks, but if the team believed it was more mental than physical, perhaps they felt Cousins would snap out of it.

It should be an interesting year for Atlanta, especially if the 36-year-old quarterback is still on the roster. Either way, the Falcons are going forward with Penix, who showed a ton of promise in his three starts last season.