Kirk Cousins Struggles in Practice While Backup QB’s Shine
Zeke Warren-Weigmann
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While Kirk Cousins may have gained the trust of Viking’s faithful with his pro-bowl 2019, a season during which he lead Minnesota to a 10-6 record and an exhilarating playoff win over the Drew Brees-led Saints on wildcard weekend, that does not mean that there is not still room for improvement.
This unfortunate truth was on full display this past Friday, August 28th, during a non-tackle scrimmage against the first team defense. Of the five drives run by Cousins, two ended in successful field goals, one stalled out before getting into field goal range, and two the offense just could not get it going and went three and out.
In comparison, Cousins’ backups had much more productive outings. Second string quarterback Sean Mannion, a five-year veteran who spent the first four years of his career with the Rams before signing with the Vikings in April of 2019, threw a touchdown, connecting with wide receiver Tajae Sharpe. Third string QB Nate Stanley, a rookie out of University of Iowa that the Vikings took with the 244th pick in the 2020 NFL draft, tallied six points. Even fourth string quarterback Jake Browning, a University of Washington alumnus who signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent back in 2019, found the end zone on a pass to running back Mike Boone. Cousins was the only QB on the depth chart to not score a touchdown.
While there is no serious competition at quarterback for the Vikings, with Cousins being the cut and dry starter, this practice shows that the Vikings starting offense still has some serious chemistry work to do. Hopefully the loss of a piece as important as Stefon Diggs this past offseason will not serve as the unit’s unraveling.