Vikings QB Kirk Cousins will return to ManningCast tonight

LAS VEGAS — On Monday night, Kirk Cousins will make his return to the Manningcast.

The Vikings quarterback is scheduled to be a guest for the second time on "Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli," making an appearance as Peyton and Eli Manning analyze the two games (Packers at Giants, Titans at Dolphins) happening at the same time.

The show is produced by Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions as an alternate broadcast to ESPN's Monday night production, available on ESPN2 and ESPN+. The Manning brothers typically have guests — from current and former NFL players to celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mark Wahlberg — join the show for a quarter or so of a game. Cousins' appearance is expected to follow a similar format, though the Emmy Award-winning show could take a different turn Monday with two "Monday Night Football" games happening concurrently.

Cousins was first on the show on Nov. 7, 2022, the day after he directed a comeback victory over his former team and his "Kirko Chainz" moniker was born when teammates recorded him dancing shirtless while wearing his teammates' diamond jewelry on the Vikings' flight home from Washington.

While Cousins talked playfully with the Mannings about the moment, it was also clear he wanted to pick the brains of the two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, asking them for advice about how they'd handle blitz packages. During the show's broadcast of the Vikings' Oct. 23 win over the 49ers, Peyton Manning mentioned he'd contacted Cousins before the game, asking to talk with the quarterback about the Vikings' offense. Cousins responded that he'd give Manning some time, but that he wanted a chance to ask the Hall of Famer for quarterbacking advice in return.

"He reached out last week and said, 'Hey, I'm gonna be the shortest production call of your life, but can we talk?'" Cousins said on Oct. 25. "And I said, 'Well, if you're calling me to take my time, it's not going to be the shortest production call of my life, because I'm gonna then talk to you and ask questions.' He was kind enough to sit on the phone with me for a little while and answer some of my questions."

Monday night will be the latest in a recurring set of interactions between Cousins and the Mannings. Cousins was one of the three quarterbacks featured on the inaugural season of "Quarterback," the Omaha-produced Netflix show that followed Cousins, Patrick Mahomes and Marcus Mariota through the 2022 NFL season. Eli Manning coached Cousins on the NFC's flag football team during last year's Pro Bowl Games, and Cousins appeared in a preseason ad for the third season of the Manningcast, with a humorous take on his "You like that!" catchphrase.