Falcons coach not happy with Takk McKinley for trade comments

Atlanta Falcons defensive end Takk McKinley has used his Twitter account this week to show how unhappy he is with the team, and interim head coach Raheem Morris is not pleased about it.

McKinley oddly tweeted earlier in the week that the Falcons will not trade him and had turned down multiple offers for him. He took it a step further on Wednesday, mocking the team and sharing some of the supposed specifics of those offers. That led to some harsh comments from Morris, who said McKinley has been “immature” with his handling of his trade request.

"The wrong way to go about it is definitely the way Takk has handled it, and to pout."#Falcons head coach Raheem Morris on defensive lineman Takk McKinley, who this morning tweeted his displeasure at not being traded pic.twitter.com/ggUBS2nVfF

— Justin Felder (@Justin_FOX5) November 4, 2020

“The wrong way to go about (the trade deadline) is definitely the way Takk has handled it and to pout,” Morris said. “As soon as we get an opportunity to talk to him about those things and how he’s handling that situation, that would be the thing to handle first. Then we figure out how to get him healthy, as far as his groin. Then you figure out if he’s even able to be on the team and if that’s even possible at this point.”

McKinley clearly wants out of Atlanta, and he’s going to get his way soon enough. The Falcons did not pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, so he’s set to become a free agent after the season. He was obviously hoping to find a new team sooner.

As McKinley alluded to in his tweet on Wednesday, he has not lived up to expectations through three-plus NFL seasons and has just 17.5 career sacks. That has probably made him difficult to trade, though he thinks the Falcons have turned down offers they should have taken.