Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins, 10.21
On the offense today… (It was) all over the map. There were a lot of positives. Any time you score 37 points on the road, you’re doing something right. There were certainly a lot of places that weren’t good enough. When you have special teams giving you good field position and you have a defense giving you the ball back, it probably makes it look better than it really was. That’s complimentary football. That’s team football and we’re so grateful for our defense and special teams with the way they played today because it gave us the opportunities to go back out there and score points.
On if the wind affected him today... I didn’t notice any specific plays where the wind affected it. Honestly, it was the Jets defense. They are a good defense with a good scheme. They had shown on film that they were very active and can disrupt a lot of things. I thought they were disruptive today and made some plays. Fortunately, we didn’t turn the ball over, otherwise it would have made it much more uphill.
On developing trust with Adam Thielen to go to him on passes when it isn’t open… When you break the huddle, you just try to identify coverage and get any intel you can. I just wanted to give him an opportunity. Many times when you throw go balls, nine-routes, you have to throw with trust, no matter who the guy is because you have to believe when the ball is in the air that’s when the separation happens. I just had to believe that Adam was going to go out there and get it. He made a great play.
On Thielen starting the season with seven straight 100-yard games… It says it all. He’s a great, great player. Ultimately, he’s a great person. It starts there and the way he approaches everything he does. I’m lucky to play with him. The Vikings are lucky to have him. He’s a special player and a special teammate. He deserves the success that he’s having and hopefully there’s much more ahead because he’s the type of guy, along with a lot of the guys on this team, who deserve to do great things.
On if the weather today made him happy he chose the Vikings over the Jets… (Laughing) I noticed playing indoors is, I think, a positive in general. I think the Jets are doing a lot of good things. Coach (Todd) Bowles is always tough to go against. They have a great defense and I think they are very pleased with Sam Darnold and what his future looks like.
On if it was special to beat the Jets today… No, I think winning on the road is important in this league. I was glad we were able to do that. I have great respect for the Jets and they are building a team that is going to be very good. They have a lot of pieces that have a very bright future. I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff and for what they are doing.
On the tipped passes… We have to go back and look at the film to see what took place. I’ve never thrown so many. The throws I’m throwing are plays I’ve been running for 10-15 years. I don’t know why they are suddenly getting batted. It felt like there were a few there today that were probably completions that, because they are getting tipped, aren’t ending up as such, so that was a little frustrating. We’ll go back and take a look at what is happening and try to correct it the best we can.
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On if the first tipped pass was by defensive design… I’m not even remembering the specific play you’re talking about, so I’d have a hard time giving you an honest answer. I think if it’s getting batted, it could be any number of things. It could be a defensive lineman keying the quarterback’s drop. If he feels that the quarterback’s drop finishes, then maybe he stops rushing if he feels he’s not going to get home in time. It could be a linebacker playing man coverage on a running back and as the running back crosses the ball to go pick up a blitzer, the guy covering him runs with him and ends up getting in the throwing lane. It could be any number of things that cause that to happen.
On how Thielen is getting so open… I would argue that the Jets did a great job. We were 0-8 on third downs in the first half and a lot of that was because they were doing a really great job against Adam, taking him away and not allowing us to work him. When you ultimately play coverages, you have to still stop the run and still cover other people, so there are still moments in the game where Adam is going to get open and have one-on-one coverages and have opportunities. I do think the Jets did a really good job of taking him away in certain situations. That’s one of the reasons I do have great respect for their coaches and their schemes.
On the team having a better second half… I think it goes back to our special teams continuing to give us the ball with great field position and our defense giving us the ball back. I think that was so important and gave us more opportunities, so if we did go three-and-out, we were getting it right back in a favorable setting. When you have a lead it gives you a few more opportunities to run the football and then when they were pressuring trying to create havoc, there is certainly a moment where a guy can get out of a gap and can have an explosive run. I do think that our offense putting up 37 points says more about our defense and our special teams than it does about anything I or we did today that was outstanding.
On how long it takes a young quarterback to understand what is going on in a game… I’ve always felt like it takes you a couple of series to settle in no matter who you’re playing or how familiar you are with them. Every game takes on different situations as the flow of the game continues. If you get behind, you have to be more aggressive and take chances. If the defense knows you have to pass, they can pass rush a little more effectively because they know you have to drop back. Game situations can start to dictate things and put you in certain positions that are going to change the final results or outcome.
On the lateral pass… I didn’t feel good throwing it to Stef (Stefon Diggs) there and wanted to just dirt it. I should have dirted it a little more forward or should have just run forward and taken a short sack. That would have been the hindsight answer. I was just trying to make sure I got it away there and play the next play, but the nature of whether it was a lateral or not ended up a little too close for comfort.
On if they were yelling at Diggs to get the ball… I think we all realized then that the ball was free and that someone had to jump on it. He did a good job of going to get it.
On if there was any extra motivation for him based on what was written about him during the week… I never read it, so I don’t even have any knowledge to be able to process it or incorporate it into my approach. I try to believe that ignorance is bliss and I try to stay as ignorant as possible. I think that serves me well.
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On why he didn’t want to throw to Diggs on the lateral pass… They were bringing us pressure and the SAM, who was blitzing, peeled on the route. In addition, they had a guy covering Stef, so it was really two people that were going to blow up the play. Rather than put him in harms way, I thought I’d throw it in the ground and throw it away. Obviously the ball needs to be thrown more forward to avoid the potential lateral.
On if he likes the restaurants in Minneapolis… I like Murray’s (and) Manny’s. I like the steakhouses. I do like the restaurants, but I don’t know if that has to do with anything. There’s good food here too. Hopefully we get some of it on the bus here in a second.
On if there was something he could have identified pre-snap on the lateral pass… The SAM linebacker was the one who got me off the throw. He, I believe, was blitzing. If he blitzes, then I just touch it over his head. But, he peels and decides he’s not going to blitz, I believe. I could be speaking out of turn. He peels and now it’s a different plan. I go back to great scheme, great coaches, and great awareness by them to be able take that away. That’s why I have great respect for them, their defense, their personnel and the way they played today. There were many plays where we felt like we had something, but then the look they gave us made it an uphill battle and made it tough. It happened time and again.
On if he feels like they got away with a few in terms of turnovers… I’m learning that I can go back in any game and point to plays where you say, ‘Wow, if this didn’t happen, the outcome is a different story.’ I could really go back and do that with every game we’ve played. That’s why you prepare so hard in the week. You know that any moment, any play, can turn the entire outcome. It is so close. There are plays in this game, but I could go back six weeks. I could go back three years and talk to you about every play in a game and how small the difference is in a ball bouncing this way or bouncing that way. This is a tough league for that reason.
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