Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was all smiles Wednesday as he faced the media at a Minnesota middle school, where the team took part in their Team Up To Give Back Volunteer Event following day five of OTAs. Cousins addressed the advancement of the offense, his developing relationship with receivers and continuing to learn and improve in his seventh NFL season.
On Laquon Treadwell
“Like me, he’s just continuing to grow as a player and learn. Every day we learn new things, take steps together. I’m excited to see…what he can do now going into his third year, and hopefully continue to get him more and more involved.”
On John DeFilippo’s Offense and Cousins’ Role in its Implementation
“I see it as a mixture of a whole lot of backgrounds, a whole lot of different experiences. But at the end of the day, [DeFilippo] is the offensive coordinator. It’s his offense, he’s calling and designing the plays. At the end of the day, it’s what he wants. So if I do have an input or a thought, it’s with the understanding it’s his call at the end of the day and I’ll do whatever he says. But we do try to have great communication back-and-forth. Coach Stefanski is involved with that, really the entire offense….Ultimately [DeFilippo] makes the call.”
On Chemistry with Teammates
“Each play helps build the confidence, helps build a rapport with the receivers, the tight ends. I continue to try and get on the same page with the centers, making the right protection call. It is a lot of new chemistry that still has to be built. But every day we come out here and we take another step.”
On Red Zone Offense
“NFL football, I’ve learned, is so much situationally-based so we have to practice third downs, red zone third downs, two-minute. We have to be really good in situational football. And coach Zimmer, to his credit, does a good job in OTAs of emphasizing those pivotal moments in games. There was a heavy emphasis of not just red zone, but third down in the red zone. It gets condensed down there. There is a lot less field to defend, there’s 22 guys in a small amount of space, it’s tight windows. We have to talk about how are we going to be successful down there, especially on third down. The defense is talking about how are going to keep them out of the end zone and force them to a field goal. So it’s a good cat-and-mouse game.
“You have to be on the screws. The throws have to be that much more accurate, the routes have to be that much more perfect in terms of depth and the cut and the timing.”
On High Expectations
“Right now, all we can do is have great OTAs. That’s where our focus is. I’m enjoying going out and competing against a very talented defense, every day having to go against Pro Bowlers, it’s fun for me. And to play alongside the guys I’m playing alongside is a lot of fun. We’ll see what that leads to this fall, but it’s great for me as a player to continue to develop and learn all the things that have become the Viking way of doing things.”
To watch Cousins’ press conference in its entirety, follow this link here.
–Sam Smith is the Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage Vikings and Full Press Coverage NFC North. Like and Follow @samc_smith Follow @fpc_vikingsFollow @fpc_nfcn
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