What Kirk Cousins Thought When the Falcons Drafted Michael Penix Jr. | The Rich Eisen Show

how are you feeling going into the season what's your health yeah feeling good um I think I turned a corner fully with the Achilles over the summer um where I could really you know get back to my old self and uh um you know it's been a good camp I think it was really helpful during OTAs to still be able to go through the practice reps even though I wasn't yet 100% and was able to kind of still get the work in and get to know my teammates on the field so um you know I I'll keep feeling better as we go but but I feel really good and um you know just kind of buying our time now here until week one yeah So the plan is or you're definitely going to start week one we see you out there against Pittsburgh Kirk yep yep yeah yeah when I when I injured it they told me it was a nine-month deal which would have taken me to August 1 so even from the moment I went into surgery I was expecting August 1 to kind of be the the clear date um and with no setback you know I I always thought that was going to continue to be the case and it really was and um and they told me that really it takes until about 12 months to I guess fully fully be done but uh but after 9 months you're pretty much ready to go okay did you connect with Rogers in any way shape or form to compare notes talk about stuff yeah we spoke the day before my surgery we spoke over the phone you know he was about eight weeks in um and so I was basically able to ask him you know what have the first eight weeks been like what do you recommend from a you know modality standpoint what should I be doing with my time how should I be spending my time very helpful conversation and then he checked back in in December right about when he was trying to hit the practice field again he checked back in just to see how I was doing and uh um and so we've been able to connect a little bit and uh you know the there a lot of guys tear their killes we got two or three on our team here with the Falcons I think three guys who have torn their Achilles and have come back and had great careers so um you know that gave me hope knowing how many guys have done it and have' gone on to good things so then obviously a new spot for you Kirk um and new system would you say or is it similar to like what is your adjustment level here yeah I think it's similar to when Kevin came to Minnesota from La you know my initial thought was oh I was with Shawn McVey Kevin's been with Shawn McVey so you know we should be speaking the same language when he when he arrives little did I know how much changes over the years when I wasn't with Shawn because Shawn's such a great football mind it was constantly evolving and so with Kevin I felt like I was kind of starting over learning a lot of new good stuff but uh stuff I hadn't done with Shawn from five or six years earlier and I think some of that too now with Zach um you know it was a similar system Kevin and Zach were together when they won the Super Bowl after the 21 season but in just those two years you know Kevin had unique ideas in Minnesota and and with the ram Zach and Shawn had unique ideas and they kind of went their separate ways and so now we're kind of reconvening after two years saying hey here's what I did in Minnesota here's what you did in La um you know and how can we I wouldn't say meet in the middle but how can we kind of combine the best of the two to to do what we want to do this fall and then obviously you know you choosing the Falcons and you Landing there and you being there and you know we all saw what happened on draft night with them choosing a guy who they're already considering as your successor right now depending on timing and things of that nature what has Raheem Morris told you about Michael pennock's role and yours within it Kirk yeah I think he uh I think his message to me was hey we we would like to think that we're not going to be picking very high in the years to come you know hopefully we can have a the kind of Seasons we all want to have where we're not going to have the chance to pick high and get a quarterback down the road so we kind of need to get ahead of it now um but you know the message to me was just uh you know nothing changes for you just just uh go to work and and do your job and honestly Richard reminds me of when I went to Washington and I I thought one thing about what would happen there and then it ended up being very different and so I learned a long time ago not to presume something to just understand that uh this league you know every year is is is a long year and anything can happen and just go out each day and work as hard as you can I remember too when I was a freshman in Michigan State and Nick Foles and I came in the same class and I I kind of felt like it was maybe a dead end for me because of of Nick Foles and the high school career he had had for us to be there together at Michigan State but it all worked out we both ended up having good college careers you know Nick's become a Super Bowl MVP so um you know I think I think there's always room for a good quarterback and uh and I think that's true for both me and Mike so are you saying in that analogy like you're in the role of if you will RG3 where the franchise expends a lot of capital to bring you in and then then somebody else is brought in and penx is in the role of Kirk Cousins in that analogy I I don't know if if penx was drafted 102nd overall on the third day of the draft then maybe similarities I'm not talking about actual draft order you know what I mean I'm just yeah yeah I think I think going going in top 10's a little different but uh but yeah we um you know I I think we both know that this NFL career is a marathon not a Sprint um you know Mike's been through a lot you know through his six years at you know Indiana then at udub he's been through injuries he's had to fight through a lot so um you know my story his story we both know that this journey takes a lot and it it goes every which way and you just take it one day at a time and keep putting good things on tape you know playing well when you get the chance and and believe that if you do that you know good good things are in store and we can win a lot of games and we can both uh you know have great careers catch the rich eyes and show every single day on the Roku Channel 12 to3 Eastern for free