Unbelievable: Falcons QB Kirk Cousins says he regret ever coming to the falcons after a little argument with head coach.
After Patrick Mahomes, the star of the Chiefs, was made fun of by fans earlier this week, Matt Ryan spoke up for his self-described “dad bod.”
Having declared his retirement from the NFL last month, the former quarterback for the Falcons acknowledged that Mahomes had “a great body” for a quarterback.
“I agree with Patrick on that; I had a dad bod for the majority of my career,” Ryan said to Mail Sport on Wednesday at the Sports Business Awards in New York City.
He said, alluding to Mahomes’ three Super Bowl victories with Kansas City. “The proof is in the performance.”
“I believe he’s doing okay because his performance over the last five or six years has been better than anyone else’s.”
After winning a third Super Bowl ring in February, Mahomes—who has previously professed his affection for Chick-fil-A and Chipotle—returned to the field for OTAs on Tuesday.
One fan posted on social media, “Dad bod in full flow,” after seeing pictures of the signal-caller arriving at the Chiefs’ headquarters.
However, in a TIME interview this month, Mahomes defended his figure.
He told the newspaper, “I have a great body for a quarterback.”
“To absorb the hits that we take, you have to have some padding in there.”
Ryan, meanwhile, has been loving his dad body ever since he decided to retire from the NFL.
“Playing professional sports has always been my dream since I can remember,” Ryan stated in a video that was uploaded to his social media pages in April. “I got that opportunity from the Atlanta Falcons.”
Over the course of his 15-year career, he passed for 62,792 yards and 381 touchdowns as a quarterback, serving mostly as the Falcons’ face during their most prosperous period in history.
After a single, unsuccessful season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2022, Ryan has not taken the field in the NFL.
When Ryan called a game in Atlanta during his tenure as a CBS analyst last season, he was met with thunderous applause.
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Falcons should benefit from Kirk Cousins’ experience with the system.
Although offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, head coach Raheem Morris, and quarterback Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons are all new to the team, there is still a certain amount of familiarity.
Cousins was a member of the Minnesota Vikings, where he was coached by Kevin O’Connell. Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay has O’Connell, Robinson, and Morris as members of his coaching tree. In 2020 and 2021, O’Connell oversaw Rams offensive playmaking, while Robinson served as the team’s assistant quarterbacks coach and assistant wide receivers coach. From 2019 until 2023, Robinson assisted McVay in Los Angeles, and Morris later brought him to Atlanta to manage his offense.
Robinson intends to operate an offense “very similar” to the one McVay had in Los Angeles, which O’Connell had previously brought to Minnesota, even though things won’t be precisely the same.
“Having the comfort of a veteran quarterback like Kirk that’s coming from this system — couldn’t ask for anything better,” Robinson said on Wednesday.
During the first week of OTAs last week, Cousins talked a lot about creating a “shared history” with his new coaches and teammates. He stated that one of his main goals is to quicken the group’s chemistry and camaraderie so that by the time the season rolls around, it won’t seem like they’ve been practicing for a few months. But when it comes to the offense, he has observed some parallels.
“There’s a lot of things where you say, ‘Great, I had concerns that maybe I would be starting over, but I can spit that play out no problem,'” said the cousins. “I have read it and have “been there, done that.”
“So, there’s a little bit of both sides of it, and that’s why the time on task together is so helpful.”
Shotgun formations and several three-wide receiver setups (consisting of 11 players) are prominent aspects of McVay’s offense. Although Robinson’s offense may differ slightly, he noted there will be some similarities. With Robinson, O’Connell, and Morris on staff and quarterback Matthew Stafford at the center, the Rams emerged victorious in Super Bowl LVI.
“Kevin O’Connell took from the Rams, obviously, and did a lot of the same things,” Robinson stated. We’re combining a few different things that we’ve done with the Rams and what they’ve done [in Atlanta] with the run game. Kirk has to keep up with everything, so it’s been a fantastic combination, and it comes with some fresh information.
“He knows everything, because we’ve installed it, but there was definitely still some learning with some new things.”
Robinson, a former quarterback, stated that entering their second season with them, signal callers feel more confident about their offenses. He thinks the Falcons’ eighth-round pick, rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr., will think the same way come season.
“If you’re talking about Mike like going into Year 2 next year, that’s gonna be way different than how he feels right now, where Kirk has already mastered the system,” Robinson stated.
A torn right Achilles that ended his 2023 season in Week 8, according to Cousins, indicated Robinson has a “great football mind.”
Regarding Robinson, Cousins remarked, “I think he’s a hard worker and I think he’s got a great way about him.” “The men are going to answer him. Therefore, from that perspective, we’re checking a lot of boxes, and that concerns us as players. I stress this over and over again: in order for us to play this autumn in a way that makes it appear as though we have been together for five years, we need to put in the effort to create that shared history.”
