Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins' 12th NFL training camp began with an idea. What if Cousins addressed the offense? Maybe after practice some day? Just to talk through some lessons a veteran could impart on a young roster. Kevin O'Connell had a different idea.
"I thought, 'No, you're going to stand up in front of our guys in our team meeting room for the better part of however long it was,'" the Vikings coach said. "You could hear a pin drop in there."
Cousins, who has 141 NFL starts (four in the playoffs), addressed the team Thursday night and gave a speech now lauded by coaches and teammates. He discussed the importance of relationships, not taking for granted a day the team spends together and finding routines — for physical and mental growth — that separate those players who make NFL rosters and those who don't.
Receiver K.J. Osborn said he's had one-on-one talks with Cousins before, but that he learned more about the quarterback's passion and "how serious he is about his craft."
"I mean, it's nothing new," center Garrett Bradbury said of Cousins' leadership. "There's not that many guys that have had the experiences he's had and can communicate it the way he does. There's something everyone in the locker room can learn from a guy like that."
O'Connell called Cousins' speech "really important" for a young Vikings roster that lost multiple veterans, including Adam Thielen and Eric Kendricks, this past offseason.
Part of Cousins' evolving routine includes the addition of a full-time bodywork coach in 2023. He has worked with Chad Cook for years over email, but Cousins said he brought Cook to Minnesota for work at his Inver Grove Heights home. He said he may eventually broach the topic of bringing Cook to the Vikings' facility, while trying to respect the boundaries of having a personal coach in a team setting. O'Connell said Saturday he's open to the idea.
"That's something we are not against," O'Connell said. "But at the same time, with anything, there's got to be some level of restriction. It can't just be free flowing access to the building, and they understand that. Once you establish a routine, we are right along there with them."