Falcons GM Fontenot insists team is 'very comfortable' with keeping QB Cousins as a backup to Penix

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said Thursday the team is “very comfortable” with keeping Kirk Cousins on the roster next season as the backup quarterback behind Michael Penix Jr.

Cousins was signed to a four-year, $180 million contract last offseason with $100 million guaranteed but was benched as Penix started the final three games of an 8-9 finish for the team’s seventh consecutive losing record.

The final $10 million of the $100 million guarantee in Cousins' contract will be paid if Cousins is not released before March 17. Fontenot said suggestions the team plans to release Cousins are “not valid.”

“He’s not the starter anymore, but we’re very comfortable moving forward with him as a backup,” Fontenot said. “He’s handled himself extremely well through the entire process from start to finish, from when he came in the building. And, you know, in these situations, that’s when you show your true character.”

Fontenot said Cousins is “a great man” and a “great, great teammate” who showed “great support for everybody in the building.”

The Falcons were 1-2 with Penix, the No. 8 overall pick in last year's NFL draft, as the starter. Even so, the left-hander showed more promise as a passer and a better ability to move in the pocket than Cousins, 36, who was returning from a torn Achilles tendon that ended his 2023 season with Minnesota.

Penix threw for 312 yards and accounted for three touchdowns — two passing and one rushing — in Atlanta’s 44-38 overtime loss to Carolina on Sunday. The Falcons missed the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

Cousins led Atlanta to a 6-3 record and the NFC South lead in an impressive start to what was expected to be at least a two-year run as the starter. The Falcons were 1-4 in their next five games as Cousins threw only one touchdown pass with nine interceptions. He led the league with 16 interceptions when he was benched.

Fontenot opened his session with reporters by saying “how disappointed we are in the results of the season” while adding “We understand at this point the words don’t mean anything. We have to speak with our results and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Fontenot's statement that the team plans to keep Cousins as a backup could be seen as a bargaining message for any other NFL team waiting on the veteran to be released.

When asked if the team would be open to entertaining a trade offer for Cousins, Fontenot said “We’ll take those things as they come” and added “everyone would have to be good with it” including Cousins, who has a no-trade clause.

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Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. talks to reporters after an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Landover, Md. The Commanders won 30-24. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. runs against the Carolina Panthers during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) stretches prior to an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins warms up before an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Landover. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) warms up before an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Landover. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

FILE - Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

FILE 0 Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks Kirk Cousins, left, and Michael Penix Jr., right, run drills during an NFL football practice, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Flowery Branch, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — As movie theaters worked to entice Americans back into seats after COVID-19 lockdowns and labor strikes, the industry marketed blockbuster films like " Wicked ” and the dueling releases of “ Barbie ” and “ Oppenheimer ” as no less than cultural events.

But when certain movies become “events” unto themselves, sometimes different behavior accompanies them.

During the theatrical run of “ Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour ” last fall, fans danced and belted lyrics in the theaters, sharing their glee on social media. Last year, fans at early screenings of “ Wicked ” did the same, to the chagrin of other moviegoers. One video of a woman dressed as Glinda the Good Witch racked up over a million views on TikTok and beyond for announcing to her theater, “I’m here to hear Cynthia and Ariana sing, not you.”

After a period of growing accustomed to watching movies only from the comforts of home, Americans have been slowly returning to theaters following COVID-19 lockdowns. Along the way, as attendance spikes, the question of how to behave as part of a moviegoing audience has become a topic of passionate online debate.

When asked whether it’s appropriate for fans to sing in the theater, “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, told NBC that she thinks the practice is “ wonderful ” and that “it’s time for everyone else to join in.” Dwayne Johnson, who stars as Maui in “Moana 2,” told the BBC that theatergoers who have spent their “hard earned money for a ticket” should be able to sing.

Online backlash was swift, with one user retorting, “I paid my hard-earned money for a ticket too and I don’t wanna hear y’all attempting to sing so what now.”

It all circles around two questions that, like anything else in the culture, are constantly evolving: When you’re seeing a movie in a theater, how should you behave? And when can a viewer become a participant?

Actual in-person disruptions at movie theaters appear minimal. Representatives from Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a prominent chain known for diverse film screenings and food service, and ACX Cinemas, a family-owned chain based in the Midwest, both say they’ve experienced nothing major. Same story at AMC, which has had “virtually no complaints about disruptive singing” in relation to “Wicked,” spokesman Ryan Noonan said.

The instinct to join in is hardly new. “Sing-along screenings have been a principal part of moviegoing going back over 100 years," says Ross Melnick, a professor of film and media studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. But singing, he says, typically occurs in “designated sing-along environments where it is clear that there’s a collective performance of the audience.”

According to Esther Morgan-Ellis, author of “Everybody Sing!: Community Singing in the American Picture Palace,” American film screenings in the late 1920s and early 1930s were often preceded by sing-alongs. An organist would perform three or four popular songs and audiences were encouraged to join in, often guided by lyrics projected onto the screen. In other cases, the sing-along would be coupled with a short film that included lyrics and a bouncing, on-screen ball that would hop across the words to help audiences keep tempo.

While singing has long been common, other behaviors were once hotly debated. When movies were a new medium, Americans quarreled over not just the content of the films themselves but the venue at which people viewed them. Was the dark room a hotbed for vice and immoral behavior? Should films be screened with the lights turned up? Should talking be allowed or forbidden? And, of course, there was segregation; movie theaters were not fully integrated until the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

“We have never been a monolithic society. Not ever, and increasingly so now,” Melnick says. “You can tell so much about America by looking at what’s going on in its movie theaters.”

In 1944, MGM, the film studio that had produced "The Wizard of Oz” just five years prior, released a short film titled “ Movie Pests ” that warned moviegoers against engaging in disruptive behavior. Some of the film’s concerns — sticking gum under chairs, removing shoes — are still considered no-gos today. But the short also showcased etiquette of another era, such as removing jackets in the lobby and using the hat rack under your chair.

Today, acts of participation can be more ad hoc. One Ariana Grande fan account started an online firestorm after posting on X that users should share photos they’d taken of their favorite scenes from “Wicked.” While some commented and posted their own photos, others responded with snarky remarks. One clap-back came from the Alamo Drafthouse account, which retorted, “Or, don’t do that.” The theater chain has a no-talking or texting policy, and violators are ejected after one warning.

Chaya Rosenthal, Alamo Drafthouse's chief marketing officer, said the policy "is all about respect — respecting the films, the filmmakers and fellow moviegoers who paid for a ticket who deserve an immersive experience.”

To allow visitors to choose their preferred viewing experience, theaters have offered special sing-along showings of “Wicked.” The Main Cinema in Minneapolis declared screenings on Mondays (and “Mondays only”) as singing-friendly. Universal Pictures, which produced “Wicked,” began holding special sing-along screenings of the film starting on Christmas Day.

When fans of Taylor Swift caused a ruckus in 2023 by dancing and singing along during screenings of “ Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” Michael Barstow, the executive vice president of ACX Cinemas, saw the hoopla not as a nuisance but part of the draw.

“The reason why they paid money and went and saw that inside movie theaters was to have a dance party with other people,” Barstow says. “That’s something we should lean into and embrace and try not to be too much of the fun police in those auditoriums.”

To draw people back to the theater, movie distributors and theater owners have expanded the types of experiences they offer. ACX Cinemas hired actors to dress as characters from “Wicked” and “Moana” to take photos with visitors and hosted a themed brunch at its affiliate restaurant. Theaters have begun offering slates of themed popcorn buckets to accompany tentpole films — sandworm-shaped buckets for “Dune 2” and gothic coffins for “Nosferatu.”

Even before pandemic lockdowns, theaters were upgrading sturdy plastic chairs to comfy leather recliners, and waiters at bespoke theaters began offering seat-side dining service (often at the cost of interrupting viewers to hand them the bill).

Alamo Drafthouse hosts “movie party” events where interaction is encouraged and its strict no-phone policy is void. Attendees at a special “ Magic Mike XXL ” screening were given fake money to throw at the screen, and visitors were encouraged to dress in regency garb for tea party screenings of movies like “ Pride and Prejudice ” and “ Emma. "

And though unique theater experiences may be rising in notoriety, decades of late-night screenings of “ The Room ” and “ The Rocky Horror Picture Show ” have enticed devotees to adopt unorthodox viewing practices. Longtime viewers gather at regular screenings to shout synchronized snark, toss items at the screen and even act out the movie.

“It’s really hard, what we all do, especially coming out of the last four years,” Barstow says. “The fun part is, all gloves are off as far as being creative and trying things. And that’s exciting.”

FILE - Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande attend the premiere of "Wicked" at the Museum of Modern Art, Nov. 14, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - A collection bucket and cup for "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" film is sold at Regal Cinemas, Oct. 13, 2023, in Lynchburg, Va. (Paige Dingler/The News & Advance via AP, File)