Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins spoke with members of the media Sunday after the Redskins defeated the Minnesota Vikings 26-20. A collection of Cousins’ responses are below.
On if Minnesota adjusted to the Redskins’ offense or if the offense missed plays to make it a close game:
“Well, we had three more possessions, two three and outs, and a couple of plays in those three and outs when we tried to take a chance down the field. The pocket didn’t quite allow for me to do that and it ended up incomplete. We didn’t get the pass interference on one of them and we had a penalty that set us back, so all that stuff contributes to the three and outs. The fumble on the last possession on the half pretty much explains why we couldn’t keep it going.”
On what triggered his emotional response to the potential pass interference call:
“It was a big play in the game. I want to win and penalties – and not calling penalties – has a huge impact on the outcome of the football game. I thought we had a chance at one there that would’ve kept us on the field and kept us driving and gotten us better field position, but we didn’t get it. I just wanted to voice my opinion and that’s that.”
On if he felt the game was slipping away at any point, and if so, when he felt it come back to him:
“Football is a game of momentum, so you definitely want to capture the momentum and keep it. If you lose it, which you’re bound to do at some point, try and fight like crazy to get it back. I thought the first drive coming out of halftime, taking it down the field, was a step in the right direction. I hated having to settle for three but it was a good step to move the football like that coming out of the half.”
On the win:
“It was a big win, they’re all big. It took everybody, I’m very pleased with the way the team played and the way we were able to get a win.”
On how Head Coach Jay Gruden handles a close game at halftime:
“Coach [Jay] Gruden does a very good job. I continue to be impressed with his game management. We were talking about this a couple weeks ago, having played in the Arena League, he has learned a lot about clock management, probably more than you even learn in the NFL. He does a very good job of managing the game in coaching situations. Any time you have young players in certain positions, it’s going to take time. You don’t just snap your fingers and get exactly what you want. I think we are all growing together. I don’t think we are an old, veteran, experienced team by any means, and there’s still a ways to go.”
On RB Robert Kelley’s play:
“I thought he ran really, really well. [I’m] not surprised. I thought he did the same thing against the Bengals. He just picked up where he left off and was phenomenal all day. I was very pleased with the way he ran the football and I can’t say enough good things about him, his effort, the way he produced for us and his approach to the game. He stepped up and had a big pickup in pass protection as well and a conversion. So some of those are unseen and are making a big difference for us as well.”
On what happened on the near interception:
“I don’t know until I see the film, but I felt Jordan had to step on a shell across and I was trying to get it to him and right at the moment I was trying to get it to him, I couldn’t. [I] couldn’t get the ball out cleaner because of the rusher right there and it all happened so fast. You see it and you want to throw it and from the moment you see it to the moment the ball leaves your hand. I couldn’t get that push enough behind it the way I wanted to.”
On TE Vernon Davis and TE Jordan Reed’s positioning during the touchdown:
“Plays are designed to go a certain way and sometimes they don’t end up the way you drew them up. Certainly that’s one of them. We had wanted Jordan [Reed] to be in a different spot, but he can get knocked around and ended up not quite where you were expecting it and certainly is an imperfect play from that standpoint.”
On if he has always been a durable athlete:
“You’re about to jinx me, man! I don’t know, I broke my ankle my junior year of high school, had some pretty serious sprains in college, but I had to play through them. They weren’t enjoyable, but I work hard in the offseason. I see a guy in Michigan, Gary Gray, who’s really put me back together and helped my body go to another level. His people really helped me. I take the offseason training very seriously and then try to get the ball out of my hand quickly. No matter how well I train or how much I lift and stretch, prepare, eat right, and sleep right, if Everson Griffen with his size and speed hits you, it’s probably not going to go to well. So, I try to get the ball out of my hand and not hold on to it for too long and that’s probably my best shot at staying healthy.”
On the first half’s ending:
“We just go in there and we said, ‘We start with the football and we have a great opportunity coming out of the half to move the ball. Let’s just be efficient and take it one play at a time – those kind of cliché phrases – but that’s what we really needed to do. We said, ‘We have the momentum right now. We have to have a little more emotion, let’s fake it until we make it.’ I think we did that well enough in the second half.”
h/t via redskins.com
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