Confident Vikings thriving behind letting-it-loose Cousins
Associated PressEAGAN, Minn. — After the Minnesota Vikings hired a head coach with a player-first approach and a quarterback-friendly background, while keeping the entire starting offense intact, the 2022 season was shaping up well for Kirk Cousins. Cousins said Wednesday he never expected the attention — which goes back to Minnesota’s win over New Orleans in London on Oct. 2, the first time he tried on a teammate’s necklace during the celebratory hangout before the flight home — because of an unofficial rule about no social media posts from the charter plane. “Once it got out and the train gets down the tracks, it’s hard to stop at that point, as evidenced by me not wearing a shirt last week,” Cousins said. He’s just who he is.” After the Vikings made the playoffs only once in his first four years with a 33-31-1 regular-season record, their strong start this fall has helped Cousins win over his teammates in ways that never quite materialized from 2018-21. “No one ever talks about that,” safety Harrison Smith said, ”but this dude’s tough.” ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL