Kirk Cousins is 38 and at the point in his football career where pondering his future in it is pointless during the NFL season. The key to finishing 14 years for Washington, Minnesota and Atlanta has been playing in the present.
Plus his clever quarterbacking.
“Once you get into (the season),” he said, a Las Vegas Raiders emblem sewn to a shirt, a smile on his face and a glimmer in his eye, “you put blinders on and you’re just going to work every day trying to be the best you can be — and you have to earn the right to be in this league.”
Cousins has earned the right to start Sunday for the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium opposite the Miami Dolphins, a Week 1 starter in his 15th season. The fourth-round draft pick who started his career as a backup to Robert Griffin III is wily, poised and accurate enough to keep future franchise quarterback and top draft pick Fernando Mendoza sidelined for now.
As the NFL’s third-oldest starting quarterback, four times a Pro Bowl honoree, Cousins ranks 12th all-time in passer rating (96.8), 15th all-time in touchdown passes (298), 19th all-time in passing yards (44,700) and seventh all-time in completion percentage (66.7). A torn right Achilles couldn’t stop him from starting, nor could a benching in Atlanta.
No wonder Las Vegas fancies Cousins as the model mentor for Mendoza.
“I think the No. 1 thing (that’s helped Cousins play 15 years) is thick skin,” Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said. “You been through a lot of wins and losses. Success. Failure. Anybody that’s played that much football has had a lot of failure and has failed forward. I see Kirk in that light.”
Vocal leader
Cousins signed with the Raiders in March and serves this season as their elder statesman, their oldest player and de facto leader with career earnings exceeding $320 million. A steady showing so long as he’s their starter could net him another payday next year, his passion for football still intact.
He isn’t jaded by being replaced by Michael Penix Jr. in 2024 after signing a lucrative contract to start for the Falcons, not stand on the sideline to watch a rookie. Nor is he haunted by his misstep in the pocket at Lambeau Field that felled him without contact in 2023, leaving him to hobble one-footed to the sideline.
“The love for the game (for Cousins stands out),” rookie wide receiver Malik Benson said, having watched him several years from afar. “He’s not ready to be done with it yet. He’s still having fun when you go out there. Obviously there are days that we go out there and we’re tired … but he’s one of the first guys out there. Super energetic.”
Cousins earned his role in Las Vegas with a 4-0 finish last year in Atlanta, reprising his role as its starter under center after Penix tore his left ACL with seven games to play. With seven touchdowns, two interceptions and a passer rating of 93.6, he showed the Raiders he can run an offense — even as his arm strength atrophies.
Kubiak touted his leadership, having coached him three seasons for the Vikings and emphasizing the urgency with which he has taken command in Las Vegas.
“He’s always been urgent,” Kubiak said. “I think he’s a better leader and he’s more urgent than ever.”
Since signing with the Raiders, Cousins has focused on fostering friendships with each and every teammate, practice by practice. He’ll ask about their backgrounds and families, his Midwestern charm disarming by nature, to bridge the generational gap he has with one of the NFL’s youngest teams.
He telephoned Benson earlier this week to double-check his comfort with the game plan for Miami, his experience leaned on by the Raiders as much as his right arm and pocket presence.
Said fifth-year left guard Spencer Burford, also part of their class of free agents: “He’s real vocal and tries to make everything clear (so) there won’t be any confusion on the field. … He came in, real open guy. He has a sense of humor. Real cool individual. Before I knew him, I knew he was a well-respected quarterback. … All the productive years he’s had, you can’t ignore him.”
‘Stay in the present’
Humor helps Cousins bond with teammates in the locker room, dining room, training room and huddle, his witty one-liners and word-play riddles softening what’s always a serious tenor. Laughter knows no age restriction, leveling the age gaps altogether and reflecting that Cousins is one of the guys.
“His jokes in general, man, are fun,” said fourth-year tight end Michael Mayer. “His dad jokes. He’s got a bunch of old-timer jokes. He’s been around for a while, man.”
Because he’s always monitoring his physical condition.
“Just the way that he studies and takes care of his body and all the extra stuff he does that I didn’t even think to do” stands out to rookie offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III. “I learned how to take care of my body just on a basic level, but the amount of time he spends and how detailed he is about that is just at a whole (other) level that I definitely want to put into my preparation because I want to be in the league as long as him.”
However long that may be.
Resilient enough to know his torn Achilles or benching in Atlanta could turn around amid the violent nature of his chosen profession, Cousins is also experienced enough to know that starting Sunday demands he produce. He says he’s feeling good physically and he’s where he wants to be mentally.
In the present. In Las Vegas. Still a starting quarterback.
“It starts with trying to get a win Week 1 and just kind of focus on the here and now — stay in the present,” Cousins said. “I even get kind of like, ‘Let’s just have a great Wednesday practice and let’s just stay right here on Wednesday doing the best we can.’ Can’t win the game today, but we can have a great Wednesday that gives us a better chance to win the game. So, that’s kind of where my focus is, and I think that’s helped me as a player to kind of stay in the present.”
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.
