Falcons’ Kirk Cousins returns to lineup with depleted receiving corps

FLOWERY BRANCH — With wide receiver Drake London out with a knee injury, the Falcons have a major hole in their passing attack.

London, the team’s leading receiver, didn’t play when the Falcons’ offense, under the direction of quarterback Kirk Cousins, struggled mightily Oct. 26 versus the Dolphins.

Cousins is set to start at quarterback and will be without London again when the Falcons (3-7) play the Saints (2-8) at 4:25 p.m. Sunday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

“The only thing you can do is go to practice and make sure you can go get all of the things you need necessary to get it done,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said.

Cousins has had a full week of practice with the receivers this time around.

“There was a lot of limbo that week,” Morris said. “This week there (wasn’t) any limbo” since Michael Penix Jr. is on injured reserve.

Cousins had a great connection with wide receivers Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud last season while Cousins was the starter. Mooney has struggled with injury and the move to Penix. McCloud was released by the team in what the team called “performance related.” He’s played in two games this season with the Giants and has one catch for 7 yards.

Despite not having London, Cousins is looking forward to his return to the starting lineup.

“I do think continuity, familiarity matters in (the NFL), period,” Cousins said. “So, in this situation, having played games with (offensive coordinator) Zac (Robinson) calling plays, having played with the guys around me, having called the plays, used the verbiage, done the operation, the way we do it here, it’s a lot better than getting thrown in with a brand new team.”

Cousins has worked with wide receiver David Sills V on the second team this season. He’s getting the snaps that used to go to McCloud.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in David Sills going out there and being able to step up for us and doing some really good things,” Morris said. “We’ve got to get Mooney to bounce back and do a lot of things for us that we want him to do. Obviously, Kyle Pitts plays a factor into that receiver (group). Bijan (Robinson) plays a factor into that (group with) some of the things he can do.”

The Falcons believe they can use a committee approach to replace London’s production.

“We’ve got a bunch of people that need some opportunities, and they’ll get them,” Morris said. “We’ll find out about a lot of our guys this week.”

Mooney was slowed after breaking his collarbone on the first day of training camp. He also had a hamstring injury.

The Falcons were pleased with the development of second-year wide receiver Casey Washington and didn’t elect to bring in any veteran wide receivers after Mooney went down.

“We knew how we would get him back,” Morris said. “We had the plan. Obviously, he knew it would take the course of the training camp. We knew it would take about four weeks for him to get back into play speed.”

Then Mooney had another injury.

“He had the unfortunate hamstring,” Morris said. “So, you really didn’t feel like you would miss much. You felt like we’d be able to carry the load for him up to that point.”

So, they didn’t go get another wide receiver.

“We felt like we had everything we needed in the building to get it done,” Morris said. “Unfortunately, it hasn’t panned out for us the right way.”

The Falcons are hoping to get London back soon.

“You’re definitely going to miss Drake,” Morris said. “Obviously, he’s been super productive. He’s been outstanding for us all year.”

Earlier this season against the Dolphins, Penix and London missed the game and the offense sputtered in the 31-10 loss Oct. 26.

“I would anticipate us playing a little bit cleaner across the board, especially up front,” Zac Robinson said. “We talked about the Dolphins game and just some of the things that we could have helped Kirk out big time and the rest of the skill guys not put us in those situations where we get in the second half and it was a throw-fest.”

The Falcons fell behind early against the Dolphins had to abandon their game plan.

“We had like 14 real snaps of football,” Zac Robinson said. “So, it was a weird rhythm game. Obviously, the inefficiency on first and second down was big. But what I anticipate, just with a full week of practice with Kirk, again, feel great about our run and pass plan.”

The Falcons worked on their first- and second-downs plan Wednesday. Then it was third downs and red zone Thursday.