Jay Gruden joins Chris Russell on The Team 980 Mondays at 3 p.m., then goes across the dial to Grant & Danny on 106.7 The Fan at 5 p.m.
– and as you can imagine, both hits this week were full of praise for Jayden Daniels and the Commanders after a comeback win against the Eagles, and wonder about where the running game went.
You can hear the entirety of his weekly visit with Rooster above and read some of what he told both shows from this write-up after his hit with Danny & Tobi Altizer (in for Grant) – but there’s one thing he addressed exclusively on Russell’s show, though, and it pertains to next week: what happened to the Kirk Cousins revenge game?
“I think it’s a combination of things,” Gruden told Chris when asked why he thinks the Falcons made the change to Michael Penix Jr. on Sunday.
“You have a new offensive coordinator trying to find his way, it’s the first time he's ever had to come up with game plans, how to attack defenses, situational play, all that stuff, and then trying to cater to Kirk's strengths, and I don't think he did a very good job of doing that. Kirk's strength is under center with the play-actions and the bootlegs, and they didn't do a whole lot of that. Part of that may be because Kirk wasn't 100 percent recovered from his Achilles, but he does not look the same.”
Cousins has never been mobile but has been ‘effective with his mobility,’ according to Gruden, but something is off this year.
“He just looked a little bit more rigid in the pocket, didn't look as flexible as he normally does. He still threw the ball accurately, but he forced the balls in the coverage,” Gruden said. “A lot of the routes and a lot of the plays that they're running, receivers had options just come out of their cut and break it off to the outer or stick it down in the zone, and that's really not Kirk's forte. He likes to know where people are going so he can anticipate throws; he sees windows and lets it fly, but when he's not sure where the receivers are going to be, he holds onto it a little bit long and just waits and waits, and then he gets sacked or throws it up into a crowd.”
That said. Gruden thinks it was a good move to go to Penix now as Atlanta fights for their playoff lives, especially doing so last week against a Giants team that’s as easy as it gets in terms of a cupcake in the NFL this year.
“A pretty good move to get Penix a shot, especially since they've had him there and watched him throw all through camp and through the preseason,” Gruden said. “They probably said let's just give him a chance, he’s a little bit more mobile and they can do a little bit more, so we'll see what happens.
The jury is still out on this decision, I’m still not convinced that Penix is the right guy, but I think Kirk probably had to sit for a little bit.”
Then again, how much can you really discern against the Giants, and how much stock can you take in a game where he went 18-of-26 for 202 yards and a pick, and Atlanta’s defense outscored Big Blue?
“He threw the ball good, had some good throws on some traditional drop-back plays and did some good things, but he didn't really have to do a lot,” Gruden said. “The defense got the touchdowns for him and the Giants have totally, absolutely just gone to sleep. They’ve packed it in, they’re done and they don't even care. It’s unbelievable, and it’s a farce watching them play – so it'll be interesting to see how he plays against a team that's hungry and playing for the playoffs.”