FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — A shirtless Kirk Cousins ​​swayed back and forth, almost dancing in place with several expensive necklaces around his neck and a pair of stylish black glasses.

It was November 2022, and Cousins’ Minnesota Vikings had just come from a 10-point deficit to defeat his former team, the Washington Commanders, in a key late-season game. That was the origin of Cousins’ alter ego, whom teammates dubbed “Kirko Chainz.”

That version of Cousins ​​– minus the chains — has always existed. There’s the Cousins ​​who jokes around by borrowing quotes from ’90s Ben Stiller movies like “Heavyweights” and jokes about taking teammates on a tour of casual restaurant chains like Texas Roadhouse. And then there’s the ultra-serious Cousins, the one who perhaps focuses too much on the “meaning of the moment.”

“I think, honestly, my wife (Julie Hampton) would tell me that you really have to be the guy that’s just joking around and having fun all the time,” Cousins ​​said. “That’s your best self.

“I know she’s right, but it’s hard for me. … And so I try to find that balance.”

Kirko Chainz is heading to the ATL 🔥 photo.twitter.com/nIZ5MmN0Do

— NFL (@NFL) March 11, 2024

Cousins ​​has also had two realities on the field. The 36-year-old quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons has had seven seasons with 4,000-plus yards and eight with 25-plus touchdown passes. But his teams have made the playoffs with him as a starter only three times, and he is 1-2.

And then there’s “Monday Night Football,” with the Falcons playing away against the Philadelphia Eagles (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Cousins ​​holds a 3-10 record on MNF, and from 2014-19 he had the longest losing streak — nine games — of any quarterback in MNF history. But a closer look shows that those numbers may be misleading. Regardless, the Falcons will be hoping Cousins ​​can turn those odds around against the 1-0 Eagles, especially after Atlanta just suffered a season-opener loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“That’s a lot of fun for television,” Atlanta coach Raheem Morris said of the scrutiny on Cousins’ big-game issues. “It’s good to talk about.

“All those things, you still have to go out there and play and you have to prepare. You have to trust your process and go out there and win.”

Morris said he recalled similar perceptions about another quarterback he knows well, Matthew Stafford, who is 6-9 on MNF with 19 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

Morris was the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams when Stafford helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI.

“We went out there and started winning really well, and we had a rough patch in November,” Morris said of the 2022 season. “Everybody forgot about us, and then Matthew Stafford came along and got us to the playoffs and the Super Bowl.

“So we gave him all the credit.”

Cousins ​​has the third-worst winning percentage for quarterbacks in MNF starts, behind Jim Everett (2-10) and Andy Dalton (2-8), according to ESPN Research. But statistically, he hasn’t played poorly, especially compared to his peers.

Cousins ​​has 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with an overall quarterback rating (QBR) of 54.3 on Monday nights. The league average QBR since Cousins ​​made his first career start on a Monday in 2014 is 56.4. And Cousins ​​has won three of his last four Monday games. In his most recent game, Cousins ​​led the Vikings over the San Francisco 49ers, completing 35-of-45 passes for 378 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in Week 7 of last season.

Cousins ​​said he believed his alleged MNF problems were “a dated story.”

There are also different schools of thought on whether the quarterback should be responsible for a team’s win or loss. Morris said it’s a team effort.

Cousins ​​agrees. The last time he played the Eagles was on Thursday night, September 14, 2023. He went 31 of 44 for 364 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. The Vikings still lost 34-28.

“You get on the plane (after the game), and you say, ‘Look, I didn’t play defense, I didn’t return punts,'” Cousins ​​told ESPN. “I played quarterback and I played well. We lost — I would have liked to have played better.

“But you have to ask yourself, ‘Are you playing winning football?’ There are parts you can control and parts you can’t control.”

Dalton said that if someone says a quarterback is struggling on Monday Night Football, it just means he’s playing against good players, as the platform often tries to show the best game or the best teams.

“There’s no pressure,” Dalton said. “It’s just another game played later. Nothing changes. You get more cameras and the sideline crew is there for the game, but it’s all the same.

“If you’re getting up more because it’s ‘Monday Night Football’ or you’re more nervous because it’s ‘Monday Night Football,’ then you’re in the wrong mindset.”

There’s some added pressure on Cousins ​​and the Falcons this week. Cousins, in his first game back from a torn right Achilles tendon he suffered in Week 8 of last season, struggled against the Steelers. He was 16-of-26 for 155 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Cousins ​​had 19 passing yards in the second half, the lowest second-half total of his career.

The performance, so out of sync with Cousins’ career thus far, and Atlanta’s schedule called into question the quarterback’s health. The Falcons operated primarily out of the pistol set, which Cousins ​​had never done more than 10 times in a game in his career. Cousins ​​was lined up under center on just one play, and the offense, under first-year coordinator Zac Robinson, did not utilize play-action — where Cousins ​​historically excelled — even once.

It was the first time he started a game and didn’t attempt a play-action pass. Last season, Cousins ​​threw five touchdowns without an interception on 91 play-action attempts. Since entering the NFL in 2012, his 94 passing touchdowns off play-action rank second behind Russell Wilson (104), according to ESPN Research.

Cousins ​​denied that there were any setbacks in his recovery, and Morris attributed his quarterback’s play to “rust.” The play-calling, the coach said, was simply the system and not an attempt to cover up any shortcomings on Cousins’ part. The Falcons have not lost faith in Cousins.

“We don’t want anyone else to lead our team,” Robinson said.

Cousins ​​has put up great numbers in his 13-year career, turning them into hundreds of millions of dollars. Atlanta signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed in the offseason.

There was so much confidence in Cousins ​​and the 2024 Falcons, with their young, talented players like running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts, that the team sold out all of its season tickets before training camp for the first time in 20 years.

“There’s been production, there’s a financial benefit to it,” Cousins ​​said. “But yeah, right now the box I want to check is playing — and winning — meaningful games in January and February.”

Perhaps the key to that is finding a balance between the tongue-in-cheek Kirko Chainz and the hyper-focused Cousins. He gets another chance to change the narrative on Monday night.

“I think there’s an intensity, a seriousness, a focus,” Cousins ​​said. “My wife will tell you, ‘Kirk, seriousness is not a virtue.’ So, seriousness is good and all that, but I think you have to balance it with having fun and enjoying the moment.

“And so I never want to lose my intensity, but I also want to make sure that I’m having fun when I’m playing. I think you show your best side when you’re having fun.”