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News | Minnesota Vikings – vikings.com

Kirk Cousins Talks Klint Kubiak's Promotion, Trade Speculation on KFAN

Count Kirk Cousins among the people who are excited to see what Klint Kubiak can do as the Vikings offensive coordinator.

Cousins chatted with "Voice of the Vikings" Paul Allen Thursday morning on his 9 to Noon radio show on KFAN-100.3 FM and covered a wide range of offseason topics.

But Kubiak was at the forefront, as the Vikings announced this week that he was promoted to offensive coordinator after being Cousins' quarterbacks coach the past two seasons.

"He has a great football mind. He's very capable and that's the first thing. He can do it. I'm excited about the way we've worked together so much the last couple years," Cousins told Allen. "What a fan may not realize is how little you're actually speaking with and meeting with the offensive coordinator on a daily basis. He's so focused on the game plan and a bigger picture that he's not in the quarterbacks meeting all that much.

"So Klint was the one who was relaying so much of what I wanted to [former offensive coordinators] Kevin [Stefanski] and Gary [Kubiak] over the last two years," Cousins added. "He was the one leading our meetings, so to now have that person as the coordinator, there's going to be a comfort level and communication going back two years that I'd like to think will really help us."

The quarterback threw for 4,265 yards with 35 touchdowns and 13 interceptions with a passer rating of 105.0 this past season.

Cousins' touchdown pass total set a career high and was the second-most in a single season in franchise history.

The quarterback did say he's interested to see how the transition goes from Gary Kubiak to his son. Klint Kubiak will be Cousins' fourth offensive coordinator in in as many seasons in Purple.

"That will be a piece, when you have a new coordinator, that you're learning as you go through March, April, May, June … when you're talking through what we want that to look like and our identity," Cousins said. "Here's some things I've done in the past … what I like and don't like. You have those conversations and get a feel for what's going to help your offense do well.

"I've seen it work a multitude of ways," Cousins added. "There's no right way, but however we choose to go about it, it's that when we get to the game on Sunday that we're producing and scoring points and finishing as a top offense."

The quarterback also addressed trade speculation, and quipped that it's just part of life as an NFL quarterback.

He also reiterated his desire to stay in Minnesota.

"This isn't my first rodeo, you know? I'm coming up on year 10, so that's not the first time that you've heard random reports that helped someone's Twitter account get some notoriety," Cousins told Allen. "You just kind of say, 'Hey, we'll roll with whatever happens,' and you try to not get too caught up in anything or caught up in the fact that it's going to go a certain way.

"You just try to be able to roll with it because in this league, you never know what's around the corner," Cousins added, "You have to be ready to adapt, but my hope was, when that came out, that hopefully I'm going to be in Minnesota for a long time and play to a level that will keep me in Minnesota for a long time because that's really where I'd like to be."

Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer was asked about Cousins last week on Good Morning Football and stated that, “Kirk’s our guy.”

Cousins signed a multi-year extension last March that extends through the 2022 season.

The quarterback also chimed in on Justin Jefferson falling short of winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award from The Associated Press. Jefferson finished with nine of 50 total votes behind Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who claimed the other 41 votes.

Jefferson broke a Vikings rookie record with 88 catches, and a Super Bowl-era record with 1,400 yards. He caught seven touchdowns.

But a quarterback himself, Cousins admitted that signal callers usually get some favoritism when it comes to yearly awards.

View the best photos of Vikings QB Kirk Cousins from the 2020 season.

"I think it's a position thing at the end of the day … quarterback vs. receiver. When both have really good years, the quarterback is probably going to get the nod for all the different awards," Cousins said. "You can't deny the year that Justin [Jefferson] had. But more importantly, it's going to be about Justin being able to do it year after year after year.

That's what I'm excited about, to be a part of his journey and [help him] have the year like he did this past year again and again and again," Cousins added. "When you do what he did as a rookie, and then you start stacking them up, that's when you begin to enter rare air. He's fully capable of that."

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