Vikings’ Dalvin Cook on Kirk Cousins: ‘From a clean pocket, best in the game’Through the first three games of the season, Pro Football Focus rates Kirk Cousins as the third-best quarterback in the NFL. In Dalvin Cook’s rankings, he’s No. 1.
The Vikings running back said Wednesday that no quarterback in the league is playing better now than his teammate.
“That’s the statement,” Cook said. “That’s how I feel about my quarterback. … He’s been playing good. He’s been playing lights out. Go look at his numbers, his numbers are there. He’s been balling.”
Cousins has completed 88 of 109 passes (73.9 percent) for 918 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating of 118.3 ranks fourth in the NFL.
“From a clean pocket, best in the game, man,” Cook said. “The best. He’s just turning the ball loose and being him, man. But you’re starting to see that leadership side.”
Cook said that Cousins, in his fourth season with the Vikings, is showing more emotion after Cook described his early years this way: “When he first got here, it was like, I’m figuring it out.’ ”
Cook sat out last Sunday’s game against Seattle at U.S. Bank Stadium with an ankle injury, but the Vikings still won 30-17 after coming in as a two-point underdog. Much credit for that goes to Cousins, who completed 30 of 38 passes for 323 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions against the Seahawks.
Cook made his comments shortly before Cousins arrived to address the media on Wednesday. Cousins had been in a nearby room but said he was tipped off about what Cook said.
“He’s being kind,” Cousins said. “He’s being a good teammate. He told me as he left right now that he greased you guys up for me, so now I know what he meant. My job is just to stay consistent, keep working and try to put good things on tape.”
As to whether he’s the playing the best of any NFL quarterback now or whether he’s even having the best stretch in his tenure with the Vikings, Cousins said he’s not into rankings.
“I’m not really in the business of talking about my play publicly or trying to evaluate it to everybody,” he said. “I think it’s about the next play, where are you going from here.”
However, the Vikings’ public-relations staff is into superlatives. It has tweeted out lots of numbers this week about Cousins, including that he’s one of just four NFL quarterbacks ever to have had a passer rating of 115.0 or better in the first three games while having 115 or attempts. The others named were Peyton Manning with Indianapolis in 2010 and Denver in 2013, Tom Brady with New England in 2015 and Drew Brees with New Orleans in 2018.
According to Pro Football Focus, Brady, now with Tampa Bay, is the top-rated quarterback through three games this season, and Tennessee’s Ryan Tannehill is No. 2.
The Vikings are 1-2 entering Sunday’s game against Cleveland at U.S. Bank Stadium, but they are ranked third in the NFL in total offense. And for the first time since he became a regular starter in 2015 with Washington, Cousins hasn’t thrown an interception in the first three games.
“He’s playing extremely well, playing with a lot of confidence, playing fast,” fullback C.J. Ham said. “He’s got us all playing with a lot of confidence, too. When your leader is playing that well, it’s infectious.”
Perhaps it helps that Vikings coach Mike Zimmer and Cousins have been watching film each week together. Cousins said the two did that sporadically in the past, but they began doing it on a weekly basis in spring drills and resumed the practice when training camp got underway.
“It’s helpful to have a structured time every week to meet with the head coach as the quarterback,” Cousins said. “It just helps to have that planned time every week to go over third downs, go over our offensive plan at a high level, go over our team dynamics, whatever it might be.”
Zimmer long has been regarded as one of the NFL’s top defensive coaches. So a lot of what he points out to Cousins has to do with opposing defenses.
“It’s helped both ways,” Zimmer said. “I think the communication between both of us is much better. I can understand some of the things he’s thinking about during the game. I can kind of try to give him some tips on defensive backs or alignments or front-wise, what teams are trying to do.”
https://www.twincities.com/2021/09/29/vi...-the-game/
Cuz Rauscher wasn't part of the coaching last year and Dozier didn't start at the top this year? And Dennison is still with the team, so none of that really matters.
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