Kirk Cousins and Mike Zimmer have slightly different recollections of how their weekly Thursday meetings started. Zimmer said before the Vikings' regular-season opener that Cousins suggested they study film together for the first time, while the quarterback said he'd talked with Zimmer before the season about resuming a practice they'd done at least occasionally in prior years.
"We had done it in the past and just gotten away from it," Cousins said. "In the spring we met, and just felt like it was a no-brainer and spent more time going forward. That's what we've been doing."
Neither Cousins nor Zimmer doubts the 45-minute weekly sessions have been beneficial. Both said it's helped their communication, allowing Cousins to pick Zimmer's brain on defensive strategy and providing the two a forum to discuss everything from the offensive game plan to the mood of the team. And while Zimmer wouldn't credit the meetings for Cousins' hot start — "I just think he's playing good; I don't think that had anything to do with it," he said — the sessions have come at a time when Cousins is playing as well as he has in Minnesota.
The 33-year-old ranks fourth in the league in passer rating and touchdown passes through three weeks, while sitting sixth in advance metrics like expected points added per play. He has the NFL's longest active streak of passes without an interception (200), and is 17 games into the second-longest streak of games with a passer rating over 90 in NFL history.
"I think it's helpful to have a structured time every week to meet with the head coach as the quarterback," Cousins said Wednesday. "With the role I have, I think it's great to just have an understood time every week to meet. I forget which week it was, but coming out of Monday or Tuesday I had a thought for him, but I knew, 'Hey, Thursday I have my time for him; we'll go over it then.' So I just think it just helps to have that planned time every week.
"It's heavy Xs and Os. I think it's more if it needs to be, but if it doesn't, then it's going to be Xs and Os."
It seems to be a positive development for a relationship that's had moments of tension over the years and appeared frayed in training camp after Kellen Mond tested positive for COVID-19 and Zimmer vented publicly while unvaccinated QBs like Cousins and Nate Stanley were forced to miss five days of practice as close contacts.
Since the start of the season, though, Zimmer has praised his quarterback perhaps as much as at any point in their four seasons together, highlighting Cousins' growth as a leader as much as his production on the field.
