Vikings QB Kirk Cousins and the things we take for granted

On Wednesday morning, not long after recording a segment for today's Daily Delivery podcast with Chip Scoggins about Kirk Cousins and the new Netflix "Quarterback" documentary in which Cousins is prominently featured, I had a routine dentist appointment.

When going in for these scheduled six-month cleanings, there is often a mixture of sheepishness and confidence. I've never had a cavity or any other dental issue in my life, and after the hygienist is finished my dentist usually gives me a quick once-over and declares that I have exceptional teeth.

But on Wednesday, there was a caveat — the slightest of issues with the erosion of enamel (at least as I remember it explained) that the dentist wants to clean up in a short session that could require Novocaine.

He assured me that it was not due to neglect, just the natural course of aging. I could have have assured him that my spectacular dental history was not due to diligence but rather fortune. I do the bare minimum, hardly ever floss, and nothing ever goes wrong.

Rinse, repeat (literally).

Taking my teeth for granted always makes me feel bad, but I've never really paid the price. Even a 30-minute procedure, while hardly cause for alarm, felt like a consequence.

In any event, there is time to think in a dentist chair and as I pondered my teeth I drifted back to that podcast conversation about Cousins.

In the Netflix documentary, we see just how battered Cousins was a year ago when he took the most hits of any quarterback. We see the pain he absorbed, especially to his ribs, in dramatic but rough games against Washington and Buffalo. We see all that he tries to do to stay healthy so he can do it all over again every Sunday — and every year.

Cousins clearly doesn't take his health for granted, as evidenced again by an additional step taken this year to hire a fulltime bodywork coach to help extend his career.

But a lot of us do take his durability for granted, creating a strange paradox: the longer he plays without missing a start due to injury — eight seasons now — the less impressive and more expected it seems to be.

Cousins is hyper-aware of his flaws and has always been an overachiever — the tireless worker and studier who has to outwork his peers just to be above-average.

Those of us who chide him for not being elite, for merely being among the top 12 to 14 quarterbacks on the planet, pick apart his flaws ceaselessly. The underlying byproduct of his durability, though, is a passing thought:

Whatever you think of Cousins, he is significantly better than any alternative QB option (Trevor Siemian, Sean Mannion, Kellen Mond, Nick Mullens) the Vikings have had behind him during his five seasons in Minnesota.

The next time I'm in the dentist chair for a routine cleaning at the end of January, the Vikings' season (unless they have reached the Super Bowl) will be over and Cousins (unless he signs an in-season extension) will be headed toward free agency.

Between now and then, I will try to find time for more appreciation than assumption.

Here are four more things to know today:

*The Twins have moved on from Jorge López, giving up a year of team control to see if the Marlins' Dylan Floro might be able to help more in 2023. If Derek Falvey invents a time machine, he should bring it straight to this time last year and stop himself from making the initial López trade (for eventual All-Star Yennier Cano and two top-30 prospects) and undo the Tyler Mahle deal while he's at it.

*Eight of 12 WNBA teams make the playoffs, and the bottom four teams in the league might be so bad this year that the Lynx have no choice but to reach the postseason. But the severity of Napheesa Collier's ankle injury, suffered in Wednesday's victory over the Mystics, could challenge that notion.

*A fresh Access Vikings podcast went live Wednesday, featuring Ben Goessling, Andrew Krammer and myself. Come for the training camp talk and information. Stay for my wild idea about trading Justin Jefferson?

*Keep an eye on the QB battle in San Francisco and what happens to former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance.