As the Minnesota Vikings are embroiled in likely fake trade talks around Kirk Cousins, wide receiver Justin Jefferson remains an ardent supporter of his quarterback. In a two-week period when Deion Sanders, Sage Rosenfels and Ian Rapaport questioned the legitimacy of Cousins’ play, the 32-year-old quarterback received an award from his leading wide receiver.
Cousins and Jefferson clicked wonderfully in 2020. The LSU alumnus received 1,400 yards during his rookie campaign – an NFL record for a first-year passer. After a few weeks in the Vikings offense, Jefferson has also struggled seven times through the season. All in all, Cousins hit 35 touchdowns in 2020 – the sixth most in the NFL.
The Vikings will hope to bounce back to a 7-9 season plagued by an extraordinarily porous defense. Clean health care for essential defense personnel like Danielle Hunter and Anthony Barr will help. Minnesota must also leverage its agenda for free agencies and take advantage of the 2021 NFL draft, as the team did in 2020 with Jefferson’s choice.
As for the Cousins-Jefferson relationship, the band seems to be a peach. That should go without saying for a WR-QB tandem who just set an NFL rookie record, but who has yet to say so, pulls all sorts of cousins off Cousins. This is ruthless.
But for the things on the field, Cousins and Jefferson are strict.
Jefferson Hypes Cousins
Jefferson jumped on Jim Rome’s podcast this week for a chat. Amid the conversation, Jefferson made it clear that Cousins was the right man to lead the Vikings:
‘He definitely takes in a lot of heat, he takes in more heat than he really deserves. If you look at the numbers, he’s at the top of the league. He does a lot of things for this team and for this offense. I do not really understand why he gets so much criticism. All the losses we had were not on him. Of course we want to take back some plays and do plays again, but that’s just how it is. You are not playing perfectly, especially not in this league, and to see the things he has done, I really do not know why he gets so much criticism. He’s the reason I had 1,400 yards. ‘
So, who do you trust to judge Cousins’ abilities as a passerby? Your eighth-grade buddy who says Cousins stinks because he watched a game against the Indianapolis Colts last year – or did the person wearing the helmet set an NFL record with the man? It’s hard.
Last week, Deion Sanders did the opposite
The announcement that a quarterback who has thrown 4,265 passing yards and 35 touchdowns during a season – is actually pretty good – is a bizarre responsibility. If Kyler Murray or Baker Mayfield accomplished these accomplishments, the Hall of Fame chatter would provoke radio waves.
The standard differs for Cousins. As he rides a game winner, the narrative inexplicably turns to: “What time was the day on the day?” He wrote the 35 touches in 2020 – and the confusion between him and Garoppolo still arises.
This happens due to comments like Deion Sanders last week. In an interview with Justin Jefferson on the NFL Network, Sanders revealed that he was “not a fan” of Kirk Cousins’ game, although he does like Mike Zimmer.
Non-nieces are not approved by NFL players and analysts. Tony Romo of yesteryear was investigated in the same way, but not like Cousins.
The False Diggs Narrative
The idea that Stefon Diggs forced him out of Minnesota “because of Kirk Cousins” also drives in the area of inaccurate talking points. This narrative is false.
Stefon Diggs – with his own lips – crushed the error:
‘Kirk was one of the first guys to text me. He was very appreciative of the time we spent together over the past few years, and he was just as encouraging and wished me the best of luck in Buffalo. And it’s like, what do I even say about Kirk? This is a man who invited me to his house. Introduced me to his family. Put in the extra hours with us. He is a man who has developed a lot of appreciation and respect for me through all the ups and downs over the past few years. I will definitely miss playing with and learning from him. ”
And that’s why Jefferson’s Cousins’ campaign is newsworthy. The lies regarding Cousins are abundant and inevitable. When the budding face of the Vikings franchise [Jefferson] weigh, people listen. Two fertile broads in a row – Jefferson and Diggs – elevate cousins in separate forums.
Maybe this guy is actually good?
