Roger Steinman/Associated PressMinnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins played for Washington from 2012 through 2017, and multiple people within the NFC East organization reportedly questioned his commitment to winning.
Stephen A. Smith revealed during Wednesday's episode of First Take on ESPN that there were some in Washington who believed Cousins was more interested in accumulating impressive stats than he was winning games.
"When he was in Washington, you had players that literally said, 'He ain't about winning, he's about numbers.' And they didn't say that as an indictment against him as a bad person, because he's considered a relatively nice guy. We've met him, we did the show. Very, very nice guy. They was just talking about the fact that when you separate guys of his talent, that intangible that you're looking for, the great ones have it, he doesn't. He's a safety guy. He's a guy that wants to do the safe thing because he'd rather not mess up than take chances and really, really excel."
Cousins backed up Robert Griffin III early in his Washington tenure and made just nine starts in his first three seasons. He went 2-7 in those games and became the full-time starter the next three years.
Washington made the 2015 playoffs with Cousins but went just 24-23-1 in his starts during those three seasons. He is also 10-9-1 with the Minnesota Vikings the last two years without a playoff appearance, despite a talented supporting cast that features Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.
While the winning has been inconsistent, Cousins threw for more than 4,000 yards in each of the last four seasons and has 735 passing yards, three touchdowns and two picks in four games in 2019.
Smith's report comes after Minnesota failed to generate anything of note offensively during an ugly 16-6 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Thielen told reporters after the game: "At some point, you're not going to be able to run the ball for 180 yards, even with the best running back in the NFL. That's when you have to be able to throw the ball. You have to be able to make plays. You have to be able to hit the deep balls. You have to do that."
Cousins went so far as to apologize to Thielen during his weekly radio show, Under Center with Kirk Cousins, that airs on KFAN (h/t Courtney Cronin of ESPN):
"No, like he said, it's reality. I really want to apologize to him because there's too many opportunities where we could have hit him on Sunday, and postgame when I talk to the media, I always say until I watch the film, it's hard for me to really give you a straight answer. Well, now it's Tuesday night. I've watched the film. And the reality is there were opportunities for him."
The receiver then clarified his comments and said he wasn't singling Cousins out in particular:
"First of all, I think it's interesting how media or fans take things that you say and make it what they want it to be. I don't think I could say anything more generic that any offense would say. You can't be one-dimensional in this league. It's very, very, very difficult to win. If you listen to defensive coordinators talk, they want to make the offense one-dimensional, and that's how they want to win."
Sam Ekstrom of Zone Coverage cited stats that reveal Cousins took a safe approach against the formidable Bears defense:
Sam Ekstrom @SamEkstromPer NFL's Next Gen Stats, Kirk Cousins had the lowest percentage of aggressive throws out of Week 4 quarterbacks (2.8%). Also tied for the second lowest average intended air yards. And this wasn't all late-game checkdowns vs prevent. Eight of his first 10 targets went to non-WRs.
That he was so safe with his throws is notable given Smith's comments, but at 2-2, the Vikings still have time to challenge for a playoff spot despite their current position in the NFC North cellar.
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