Highlights From Kirk Cousins' Zoom Press Conference
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins spoke to reporters on Tuesday for the first time since the team's playoff run ended in the San Francisco Bay Area roughly three months ago. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the press conference took place over Zoom, with Cousins joining the call from his parents' home in Orlando.
He began by expressing condolences regarding two recent tragic losses in the Minnesota sports community. "I’m thinking of Tarvaris Jackson and Karl-Anthony Towns’ mom [Jacqueline Towns] and just kind of have a heavy heart today with some of the things that have hit the Minnesota community and the Minnesota Vikings organization closely," he said. "So I wanted to mention them and let them know that my thoughts and prayers are with their families."
During the rest of the nearly 30-minute session, Cousins touched on a wide variety of topics, including his contract extension, the departure of Stefon Diggs, and what it's been like adjusting to this new reality.
Here are some of the highlights.
Contract extension was a "no-brainer" and a "win-win"
The very first move the Vikings made when the free agency legal tampering period began on March 16th was signing Cousins to a two-year extension that keeps him under contract through 2022. He thinks it worked out well for both sides, and expressed that he wants to be in Minnesota for a long time.
"It was a no-brainer for me to want to be back with the Vikings and try to find a way to make it work, and I think it’s a win-win," Cousins said. "I think the Vikings did a great job of finding a way to make it a win-win and it’s great to be able to create some cap space for this year and to be able to solidify that I and my family can be back in Minnesota for another couple of seasons and hopefully beyond that. I want to play well enough to where I get to be here beyond that, too. We’re grateful for that and just feel so good about being a part of the Minnesota community even more going forward."
Read: What Does the Christian McCaffrey Extension Mean For Dalvin Cook and the Vikings?
"We know how much this team means to the fan base, to the people of Minnesota and we’re going to do all we can to deliver a championship. I do know that whoever the quarterback is that delivers a world championship to the Minnesota Vikings is going to be welcome in the state of Minnesota for the rest of their lives. I certainly want to be that quarterback and we’re working really hard to do that."
Cousins was asked about if signing another short-term deal was part of the plan, and he said that it was, given how the new CBA could dramatically affect things going forward.
"We felt like with the CBA and the shifting landscape that it was going to be difficult to know where this was going to go from here, so the timing was not going to be easy," Cousins said. "And I think that was a big point of communication through the process to make sure that a long contract would have been difficult because of the changing landscape of the CBA, and I think that's true for both sides. I think, again, it was a win-win to get that contract structured the way it was."
He'll miss playing with Diggs, who will be difficult to replace
Naturally, there were questions about Diggs being traded to the Bills last month. Diggs essentially forced his way out of Minnesota, and it was easy for fans to assume that his relationship with Cousins – and frustration with Kirk's reluctance to give him chances down the field – played a role.
Cousins, unsurprisingly, had nothing but praise for Diggs. "It's a unique dynamic," he said. "It became apparent that he wanted to play elsewhere, and I think it was smart of the Vikings to grant him that opportunity. I think it wasn't a mystery, and that's OK. I wish him really well. I just so enjoyed playing with him."
Asked for any ideas on why Diggs may have been unhappy with his situation, Cousins declined to speculate. "I think there were a variety of circumstances," he said. "I think that's probably more a question for Stefon to fully understand the why behind it, but probably really not for me to say.
Diggs recently had a piece published in the Player's Tribune where he revealed that Cousins was one of the first people to reach out to him after the trade, and expressed his appreciation for their time together.
“Yeah, I think my text message to him said something along the lines of, ‘You’re as good as any receiver I’ve ever played with,’" Cousins said. "That includes some names like Adam Thielen, DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon. He’s elite. I just wanted to let him know that, and I’m sure the Bills will be thrilled to have that. Again, we’re always looking for win-wins, whether that was with my contract or in Stefon’s situation. It didn’t seem to be able to work going forward as it was, so we tried to find the best win-win that we could, and I think it was impressive of the Vikings to find a situation that could work for both sides.”
COVId-19's effect on the offseason, uncertainty about the season, and the draft
These are unprecedented times. Normally, players would be using the Vikings' facility and getting ready for offseason programs after the draft, but everything is different this year. Like millions of people across the country, Cousins has had to adjust to life at home.
“I’ve literally been working out in my basement or in my driveway, depending on the weather we have," he said. "It’s been surprisingly efficient. I had my doubts, but I’m using technology to connect with my trainer, and I have enough equipment around the house that I can get a pretty good workout in. Physically, I feel really good. Playing catch is interesting – whether it’s my brother, who comes over, or a neighbor, or whoever is nearby – I play catch and I think my shoulder has been getting a lot of good work. I honestly feel like I’m in the same shape I’d be in if we’d had a normal life for the last month-and-a-half."
Cousins and other Vikings players have been mainly focusing on staying in shape in recent weeks. But pretty soon, they'll begin working with coaches on installing their offense, and that's something that he's hoping won't be too difficult to do over virtual platforms.
“The first five weeks of the offseason, we refer to it as phase one," he said. '[Phase one] is very little actual football on the field and the physical activity is more in the weight room, which is really what guys should be doing on their own all this time. So the value of those first five weeks of the offseason, which would take us from next Monday until mid to late May, is that installation time with the coaches, which is about two hours a day."
"My expectation and understanding is we’re still going to have those installations much like we’re talking right now and if we do, I think it will be fascinating to see how efficient we can be getting those meetings done...These first five weeks I think we can keep things pretty normal. I think when we normally would have hit the practice field in late May for about 12 to 13 practices, to not be able to do that is where you start to notice a difference. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.’’
Cousins said he remains hopeful that things will be able to get back to normal soon, and added that he thinks the draft will be a fun event to help people take their minds off of this pandemic.
“Yeah, I’m hopeful," he said. "I think you’ve got to tread lightly with that statement, because you could never encourage getting back to work at the expense of peoples’ lives. So with the provision that people and their lives and their health will be in tact and be safe, I think we can and should get back to football, and I believe there are creative and unique ways to do it if necessary. I think it would be great for our country, for football fans, to be able to watch games come the fall on the weekends, and it’d be good. So how ever we can make that happen, if we can think outside the box, I’d say let’s try to do that.”
"I’ll be tuning in [to the draft]. I also think with the nature of our world right now, this NFL Draft may be as viewed as any ever, maybe more viewed than any ever, and I think it will be great for America to sit down and watch this draft and have some sense of normalcy as a result. We have a lot of picks, and I’m excited to see where we go...It’s just nice to see we’ve got some picks, and we’ve got some picks early in the draft. I know our leadership is working really hard to know that crop of players inside and out – and hey, if they draft a quarterback early, competition is a good thing."
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