Even If Not 100% Healthy, Kirk Cousins Confident He’ll Be Effective Against Steelers

With the 2024 NFL schedule set and the Atlanta Falcons set to host the Pittsburgh Steelers to kick off the year, much of the attention leading into that Week 1 matchup will be centered on star quarterback Kirk Cousins and his return from an Achilles tear suffered last season as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million deal with the Falcons as a free agent, already stated earlier in May, once the schedule was released, that he would be playing Week 1 against the Steelers.

During an appearance on The Jim Rome Show, which now is streaming on Twitter/X, Kirk Cousins said to Rome that even though he’s not fully cleared just yet, he’s getting closer, and even if the Achilles is not 100% by Week 1, he’ll still be out there and is confident he can remain effective as that pocket passer he’s always been.

“I’m not fully cleared yet, not a hundred percent, but to be out getting reps, throwing the football, makes a meaningful difference, and I feel good. It helps that I’m a pocket passing quarterback, so if I was a receiver, running back, pass rusher, I think there’d be even more concern, if you will, about ‘I gotta get to a hundred percent. I gotta get there,’” Cousins said when asked by Rome for an update on his recovery, according to video on Twitter. “Now, I think as a quarterback that ultimately my game is based on my right arm accuracy, my mind, and so whether the Achilles is a hundred percent today or not, I can still be very effective as a quarterback.

“But, I’m looking forward to kind of closing the gap to get to a hundred percent here in the next couple of months. And we should still have a little bit of buffer time before the season starts.”

.@KirkCousins8 on where he’s at in his Achilles rehab. pic.twitter.com/wG1QyqPQFW

— Jim Rome (@jimrome) May 28, 2024

Cousins suffered his torn Achilles on Oct. 29 in Week 8 against the Green Bay Packers and had surgery shortly thereafter.

Typically, a torn Achilles recovery takes 12-18 months, but Cousins believes he’ll be ready to go for the start of the 2024 season and will make his debut as a member of the Falcons against the Steelers inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

So far, Kirk Cousins has gotten some work in with the Falcons during OTAs, even though he hasn’t been fully cleared yet. He is moving around well, though, and looks to be on track in his recovery to get back under center and be the face of the franchise for the Falcons.

He doesn’t get an easy start to his Falcons tenure, either, as he’ll have to stare down the Steelers’ pass rush featuring T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Cameron Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi, Keeanu Benton, Nick Herbig, and more.

Cousins will be working behind a Falcons’ offensive line that allowed just 40 sacks last season, though the Falcons had more mobile quarterbacks last season than Cousins with the likes of Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. Pittsburgh racked up 47 sacks last season, with Watt leading the way with 19.5 and Highsmith generating 7.0.

While Kirk Cousins has never been the most mobile and has relied on his quick release, accuracy, and football IQ, that will all have to be heightened in Week 1 against the Steelers as he expects to make his return to the field following the injury.

If not, he could be in for a long day as that pocket quarterback who could be even more limited from a mobility standpoint early in his return.