Raheem Morris doesn't rule out benching Kirk Cousins for Michael Penix, Jr.

The quote that landed on Twitter wasn't particularly ominous. The full comments definitely were.

Speaking to reporters after Monday night's sluggish and ugly win over the Raiders, Falcons coach Raheem Morris did not rule out benching quarterback Kirk Cousins. If anything, Morris strongly hinted that it's going to be considered.

The first question on Cousins ended with this: "Can you assess Kirk's play tonight and where you're at . . . in terms of him as the starting quarterback moving forward?"

"He's got to play better," Morris said. "And, you know, obviously, you've got to go back, you've got to be able to look at everything. But, you know, he wants to play better. He's got to play better. We've got to find a way to get him to play better. And, obviously, we'll get to work tomorrow, and that's part of our process, right? You go and look at the tape, you review with the people it needs to be reviewed with, you know, we get all the coordinators in the room, we'll talk with everybody and we've got to play better at the quarterback position."

Look again at the question, and then at the answer. It starts with Morris saying Cousins needs to play better. It ends with Morris saying the Falcons have to play better at the quarterback position, without mentioning Cousins or Penix.

While film study and meetings among coaches will be a factor, there's another important angle to consider. What are the players saying to other players and to coaches? Are they ready for a chance, after seeing what Cousins has done through 14 starts — capped by five games featuring a passer rating below 80?

After giving his answer about quarterback play, Morris was asked a more specific followup question about Cousins: "If he can't [play better], are you prepared to replace him with Michael Penix?"

The answer was far from "no." And, in this context, anything other than "no" is "maybe" at best, "yes" at worst.

"You know, we've got everybody on our roster for a reason, right?" Morris said. "We've got so much to get better at. And, like, those things will always be discussed. That's just the nature of the beast in football. It's just so heavily talked about at the quarterback position because there's only one guy out there. You know, so, like for us, man, our mentality is to find a way to win the next game, and that's just the mentality that we're gonna have."

With the Falcons facing a short week, and given the plan to meet and to review the film today, be prepared for the possibility of a leak, followed by an announcement, that Cousins is down and Penix is up.

It shouldn't surprise anyone if it happens, based on the things Morris said after last night's narrow win.