Vikings QB Kirk Cousins (Post-Game Transcript)
Opening statement:
“Alright, a tough, tough loss. Solid opponent, shot ourselves in the foot with the turnovers. Similar story now the first two weeks in that case, I’m sure that has been said a lot to you guys now postgame, but it ought to be. Just difficult to win in this league when you lose the turnover battle by one, let alone by the margin we have lost it by, so we have to fix those mistakes and not let it continue. Then obviously proud of the way guys fought, continue to feel like we have guys who can make plays, and be explosive, and make this offense go, and [Vikings Head Coach] Kevin’s [O’Connell] going to give us a lot of opportunities to do that so we’re going to call a lot of guy’s numbers. I guess that is really all I have to say.”
On how he was able to handle the Eagles pass rush to still have an effective passing game:
“Well, yeah, I think it is a combination of, we’re still getting protection to be able to get through progressions, I think guys did a good job of winning in their man coverage match ups and match coverages. [Vikings Head Coach] Kevin [O’Connell] and the staff did a good job of getting number one and number two open so I wasn’t having to sit in there too long. It’s just a combination, the o-line did a good job mixing up the snap count and trying to stay disciplined there, there are a lot of moving parts when you are going on the road. Outside of the turnovers I feel like we did a lot of good things.”
On how resounding it is to see so many turnovers so early in the season:
“Yeah, yeah, I think you look at each one as its own entity, and you kind of look at it like, why did that one happen? And is there a pattern? In some cases there isn’t, you know if [Vikings WR] Justin [Jefferson] is going out of bounds at the 5-yard line, he’s not reaching, right? He’s reaching there because he thinks he has a chance there on the half-yard line so that one is kind of its own entity, and then you have, you know, the sack fumble, where I am saying, okay why is that one happening? Well, I have to keep two hands on the ball as much as I can, as a passer it is hard because you are pulling your hand back, but going back to two hands on the ball as much as possible. So each one is its own entity and we have to address them each that way.”
On if he felt the defenders pressure on his third quarter sack fumble:
“Yeah I didn’t see them, I guess it’s just that old blindside term.”
On how productive Vikings WR Justin Jefferson is even with teams keying in on him:
“Yeah so they clearly knew the way they covered him throughout the game, they were very aware of where he is. You can feel that and tell that. You know I think our coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for being very creative and intelligent with how to use him. You try to take advantage based on coverage, sometimes I can’t work him and I am moving on, but there are other times where you say ‘Yes they are aware of him, but I can still make the throw.’ So try to take advantage of it when the coverage allows it.”
On WR Jordan Addison’s ability to finish plays:
“It’s a great question, great line – that was the first thing I said to him [Vikings WR Jordan Addison] when he came off the field on the sideline, I put my arm around him and I said, ‘The finish is what I love, you know you got us six points instead of running out, you know, with our red zone offense,’ and it’s tremendous. You know, if you watch his tape from college he’s catching post routes for Pitt, he’s catching post routes for USC, he’s good at it. When he first got here [to Minnesota] I told him I watched his tape and that was what I saw and he said, ‘That’s my favorite route,’ and he said it with a lot lower energy than I just said it now. He’s a very natural receiver and that’s going to show up in the way he runs routes, the way he catches the football, and the way he, after the catch, makes plays.”
On when WR K.J. Osborn was wide open for a touchdown during the game:
“Good play design, I liked the call all week and [I] had it on my favorites list and it’s a great design and they just – it’s crossing patterns so they [Eagles defense] have to decide whether we’re going to pass it off or run with it and I think they on one side decided to run with it and the other side decided to pass it off, and [Vikings WR K.J. Osborn] was able to kind of sneak through.”
On how to balance the Vikings’ turnover problems with encouraging overall offense:
“I think you evaluate all football games in that light when you say, ‘OK, let’s,’ – we don’t just look at it with one broad stroke brush, and say, ‘Oh, we lost that was bad or we won that was good,’ you know if anything you have to avoid it when you win. You know, last year I think it was a lot of times where we were winning but you have to look back and be like, ‘This isn’t good enough, this isn’t sustainable,’ and so there’s a little bit of the opposite, too, when you lose – saying, ‘Hey, I liked what you did here, I like what you did here,’ but obviously there’s a need to coach and fix things and be hard on ourselves anytime you lose.”
On WR Justin Jefferson beating himself up over the fumble:
“When you talk ball security and fundamentals you always say, you know, ‘Hey, don’t reach for the end zone unless it’s fourth down,’ and, yet, players do it all the time to score a touchdown, and so we often joke that, you know, ‘Don’t reach for the end zone if you’re not going to score,’ is kind of the wink, you know, so, it’s tough and players are instinctual and in the moment, he’s [Vikings WR Justin Jefferson] so aware of where he is on the field that he reaches for it, but I’m going to be hard on myself, right, I’m going to say, ‘Look, that ball shouldn’t have stopped him,’ the ball stops him so he has to go up and get it and has to pull through. What if I threw a perfect ball? What if it had dropped right in the bucket? Maybe he runs in untouched. So, again, going back to – we have to have that moment if I can throw a perfect pass and drop it in the bucket to him.”