Falcons' Cousins says he 'didn't forget how to play quarterback' after losing starting job to Penix

ENT

Falcons' Cousins says he 'didn't forget how to play quarterback' after losing starting job to Penix

2024-12-19 08:48 Last Updated At：08:51

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Kirk Cousins was signed to a massive four-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons because he was perceived to be the missing piece at quarterback for a team that otherwise was ready for a return to the playoffs.

Cousins lost his starting job to rookie Michael Penix Jr. because coach Raheem Morris concluded Cousins' turnovers were the biggest barrier to the team's playoff hopes.

That conclusion was difficult for Cousins to hear from his coach during an unscheduled meeting on Tuesday night.

“It’s pro football, and it was a standard that I have for myself and the team has for me,” Cousins said Wednesday. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t playing up to that standard consistently enough.”

Penix is known for being unflappable.

“I don’t think anybody’s going to have to say anything for Mike to be calm,” offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said Wednesday. “I mean, he is about as cool as they come.”

Even so, Penix acknowledged he'll feel different when he enters the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium before Sunday's game against the New York Giants.

“I was basically thinking about just leading up to it, running out of the tunnel,” Penix said. “I’m not going to lie, I’m going to be nervous running out of the tunnel, but it’s going to be different when I get out on the field. ... It’s a flip the switch, I’m going to be ready.”

In the past five games, the Falcons (7-7) went 1-4 as Cousins threw one touchdown pass with nine interceptions. After holding the NFC South lead at 6-3, the Falcons now need help from first-place Tampa Bay to win the division.

The Falcons are one game behind the Buccaneers. Atlanta holds the tiebreaker advantage if it finishes tied with Tampa Bay.

Cousins said he will support Penix, but he had a quick answer when asked if he believed he can still start in the NFL.

“I didn’t forget how to play quarterback,” Cousins said. “Certainly turnovers were not what you want, but I didn’t forget how to play.”

Cousins insisted health and confidence were not issues in his turnovers, but instead said he just needs to make better decisions.

The promotion of Penix to the starting role was not a one-week decision. The job belongs to Penix indefinitely.

“I don’t think anything’s ever permanent in the National Football League,” Morris said Wednesday. “But, you know, right now, Mike Penix is our quarterback and we’re going to back him and give him the utmost support he needs as we did Kirk when he was our starter.”

Penix said he was shopping with his girlfriend on Tuesday night when he received the call from Morris. He said that call was not about just one game.

“They told me I was going to be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season,” Penix said. “... I'm super blessed to be on this team with this opportunity.”

If Cousins, 36, doesn't start another game for Atlanta, it would be a costly 14-game stint because he signed a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed.

Morris said Falcons owner Arthur Blank was “extremely supportive,” but the coach acknowledged the decision to bench Cousins has financial ramifications. Morris said those factors were outweighed by the drive for the team's first playoff appearance since 2017.

“Obviously it definitely has some financial implications for us and how you go about your process,” Morris said. “And that’s definitely one of the deals where we’re always going to make football decisions in order to win the football game. And that’s always going to be first and foremost.”

The Falcons have a short week of practice following Monday night's 15-9 win at Las Vegas that snapped a four-game losing streak. Cousins threw for 112 yards with his first TD pass in five games — and one interception. He leads the NFL with 16 interceptions.

Morris hopes Penix, the No. 8 overall pick out of Washington in this year's draft, can be the difference-maker in the close division race.

“We want to play better at quarterback,” Morris said. “And we felt like we got a chance to play a little bit better. And if we can go out there and play better at quarterback, who knows what can happen?”

Morris said Cousins was disappointed but was “an absolute professional” when told of the decision.

“He definitely expressed to me he’s going to be the best No. 2 quarterback in the National Football League,” Morris said.

Penix has appeared in only two games, completing 3 of 5 passes for 38 yards.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Wisconsin school shooter had 2 handguns, used only 1 in attack that killed student, teacher

2024-12-19 08:49 Last Updated At：08:51

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The shooter at a religious school in Wisconsin had two handguns with her but used only one in the attack that killed a teacher and a student and wounded six others, the city's police chief said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday, before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.

“We may never know what she was thinking that day, but we’ll do our best to try to add or give as much information to our public as possible," Barnes said.

The student who was killed was identified in an obituary released Wednesday as Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison. She was a freshman at the school and “an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band,” according to the obituary. The Associated Press' attempts to reach the girl's family by phone and email on Wednesday evening were unsuccessful.

The name of the teacher killed has not been released.

Barnes released the name of the shooter, Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, hours after the shooting on Monday. Barnes said the medical examiner would release the names of those killed, but the state's crime victims privacy law would bar releasing the names of those injured.

Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with her parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes said.

Police don't know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said.

“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”

While Rupnow had two handguns, Barnes said he does not know how she obtained them and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.

No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow's parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes said.

Online court records show no criminal cases against her father, Jeffrey Rupnow, or her mother, Mellissa Rupnow. They are divorced and shared custody of their daughter, but she primarily lived with her father, according to court documents. Divorce records indicate that Natalie was in therapy in 2022, but don’t say why.

Tension over police not releasing information had spilled over into a news conference on Tuesday, where Barnes left without taking questions. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway grew increasingly terse in her responses as reporters asked questions she could not answer.

“It is absolutely none of y’alls business who was harmed in this incident,” Rhodes-Conway said. ”Please, have some human decency and respect for the people who lost loved ones or were injured themselves or whose children were injured. Just have some human decency, folks. Leave them alone. Let them grieve. Let them recover. Let them heal. Don’t feed off their pain. We’ll share what we can when we can and not before that.”

Barnes on Wednesday defended the police department's handling of information about the shooting because it has moved from a crisis response to the investigation phase.

“We’ve been trying to be as transparent as possible to give as much information as we can during the critical phase of this incident,” Barnes said. “Now we’re in the investigative phase. And so the information may not be as forthcoming.”

Tamrin Olden, a former police department spokesperson in California whose company provides communications training for law enforcement, said she advises departments to give routine updates with factual information after critical incidents and avoid unnecessarily delaying the release of information. She said that communications errors can cause frustration in the community, undermine the public's trust and compound the underlying tragedy.

“Your credibility gets tarnished and the incident sometimes gets remembered for these things rather than remembering and honoring the victims, which is where the focus should be,” she said.

The police department has had to correct some key misstatements since Monday, including that three and not five people had died and that a second-grade teacher, not a second-grade student, called 911.

Paul Bucher, the former Waukesha County district attorney who was involved in a number of high-profile cases, said the media has unrealistic expectations about how quickly officials should release information in high-profile incidents. His cases have included prosecuting former Green Bay Packers star tight end Mark Chmura for sexual assault in 2000 and being part of the team that dealt with the aftermath of a mass shooting at a church gathering in Brookfield in 2005 that left seven people dead.

“The government is fed up with the media,” he said. “They have no obligation to disclose anything to you at all. Based on the mayor’s statement, ‘this is not y’all’s business,’ that’s pretty indicative that they’ve had it.”

But Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council President Bill Lueders, a longtime Madison journalist, said Wednesday that authorities should be more transparent with the facts.

“It’s a problem that so little information has been released. I do not accept that this is necessary to protect the integrity of the investigation,” he said. “The public has a right to know.”

The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.

But it stands out because school shootings by teenage females have been extremely rare in the U.S., with males in their teens and 20s carrying out the majority of them, said David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.

Emily Salisbury, an associate professor of social work at the University of Utah, studies criminology and gender. She said that females typically turn their anger on themselves because American culture has taught them that women don’t hurt people, resulting in eating disorders, self-harm and depression. It’s difficult to speculate without knowing all the facts in Rupnow’s case, Salisbury said, but a girl resorting to the level of violence she displayed suggests she experienced severe trauma or suffered violence herself.

“It takes more provocation, more instigation for girls and women to become violent,” Salisbury said. “It’s a very high probability she experienced some sort of violence in her life that can lead to serious mental illness.”

Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school — prekindergarten through high school — with approximately 420 students.

Salisbury said the public shouldn’t assume that the school’s religious teachings mean its students are above bullying and ostracizing each other.

“They’re children,” Salisbury said. “As much as those (religious) values may be taught or discussed in the classroom in the culture of that school, kids are online all the time. Kids create their own culture through social media.”

This story has been updated to correct that Emily Salisbury is an associate professor of social work at the University of Utah, not an associate sociology professor.

Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.

Falcons' Cousins says he 'didn't forget how to play quarterback' after losing starting job to Penix

ENT

Falcons' Cousins says he 'didn't forget how to play quarterback' after losing starting job to Penix

Next Article

Wisconsin school shooter had 2 handguns, used only 1 in attack that killed student, teacher

Trump brings chaos back to Washington by attempting to kill bipartisan budget deal with Musk’s help

Government funding plan collapses as Trump makes new demands days before shutdown

Aaron Rodgers ‘open to everything’ regarding his playing future beyond this season with Jets

The Latest: Trump threatens Republicans who support funding measure with primary challenges

Brr! Winter adds an old-school challenge to the CFP. Visiting teams insist it’s ‘snow’ problem

Pro Picks: Eagles will cruise past the Commanders and Seahawks will upset the Vikings

Rudy Giuliani ordered to appear at contempt hearing in January over failure to give up assets