A 5th straight loss for the Atlanta Falcons was always going to be bad news, but a locker room divided would certainly be a lot worse. Even before their loss, Michael Penix Jr.’s comments had raised eyebrows about the team’s cohesiveness. And now, Bijan Robinson has shared his own perspective on what he fears for the team.

“It definitely sucks,” running back Bijan Robinson said, as revealed by The Athletic’s Josh Kendall. “The biggest thing we have to do is stay off social media. That’s such a worldly thing. It’s just controlled by the devil, and if it gets in this locker room, that’s what divides locker rooms.”

Robinson definitely doesn’t want his locker room to be divided. After Sunday’s heartbreaking loss, the Falcons dropped to 3-7. Ten games in, Atlanta is still stuck in the middle of the pack on both offense and defense.

Head coach Raheem Morris also commented on what needed to go right, but Bijan Robinson still felt the need to share his own perspective.

“I can’t let it happen,” Robinson said. “I’m going to do as much as I can to eliminate all that stuff… if that’s what it takes. It might be uncomfortable for me, because I’m more of a lead-by-example type of guy, but I hope my words are going to affect these guys in the best way possible.”

As things stand, the chances of the Falcons getting to the postseason are low after Sunday’s loss to the Panthers. Especially with their star quarterback injured, the way to the playoffs looks a lot more difficult.

Head coach addresses overtime loss and Raheem and Penix Jr.’s injury

Atlanta’s promising afternoon collapsed with 5:22 left in the third quarter, when Michael Penix Jr. dropped back on an incomplete pass and took a hit that left him unable to stand. The rookie tried to get up, went down again, removed his helmet, and the stadium fell silent. Penix had been razor sharp to that point, 13 of 16 for 175 yards in a game.

Sources told ESPN the knee injury he suffered could be season-ending as he now seeks a second opinion. Kirk Cousins finished the game and is expected to take over the starting role with Atlanta falling to 3–7 on the year.

After the game, Morris didn’t have much of an update, saying Penix Jr. might’ve been able to return, but “it didn’t look good.”

Though he was seen walking around after the game, the HC still instilled the possibility of Penix’s return to be under scrutiny in future games.

After Penix Jr. left, Kirk Cousins was handed over the duties at the center. Cousins tried to roll the offense but could not create much impact. He went 6 of 14 for just 48 yards. But with Penix Jr. out, Morris and his Falcons might have to go ahead with the veteran against the New Orleans Saints.

“You change [the] quarterback, so you got to do what that quarterback does well,” Morris said about the situation. “So we’ll go find out what Kirk does well this week.”

The Falcons locker room could be under a lot of transition in the coming days. With Penix Jr. out and speculations of the potential locker room divide looming over the Falcons, Morris and Robinson, along with the entire staff, will have to regroup and try to end their losing streak.