On paper, star wide receiver Justin Jefferson is the Minnesota Vikings player who has the most to gain after his club brought veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins back to the organization by acquiring him from the Las Vegas Raiders before the NFL trade deadline arrived this past Tuesday.
Cousins will start when the 6-2 Vikings play at the 6-3 Green Bay Packers this coming Sunday. While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Jefferson insisted he isn’t getting too far ahead of himself while thinking about what he and Cousins could accomplish through January or February.
Justin Jefferson “not really getting too juiced up about” Kirk Cousins’ return
“At this moment, it’s really no expectations,” Jefferson said about Cousins’ return, per Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “It’s really just going out there and just executing our plays. It’s not really getting too juiced up about him being here or anybody being back there. It’s just all about understanding the plays that are being called, understanding the jobs that we have, and executing our responsibilities. And just the plays that are there, and the plays that could be made, we just need to continue to just make those type of plays. And I’m pretty sure that the results would be a lot better.”
Jefferson and Cousins were first teammates from the 2020 season through the 2023 campaign. While catching passes thrown by Kyler Murray, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer over his first seven games of this season, Jefferson tallied 31 receptions for 393 yards and four touchdowns.
“He just understands the game,” Jefferson continued while speaking about Cousins. “He’s a guy that studies the game a lot. He understands how the defenses play, especially covering me. And he understands the plays that we have called that are kind of my plays, and he understands the timing and the windows to throw those type of plays, but he also doesn’t force those type of plays to me, and he just lets the game come to me.”
Kirk Cousins is already serving as a “vocal” leader for the Vikings
Cousins is now the Vikings’ undisputed QB1 until further notice. On paper, Minnesota has a championship-caliber defense, so the club should be able to compete for more than just a playoff berth as long as Cousins can give it at least average play at the sport’s most important position.
As for Cousins, he seemingly fell back into old habits during his first practice as the Vikings’ new starter.
“He’s being vocal,” Jefferson added about Cousins, “just making sure that everybody hears the plays that he’s talking about and the notes that he has for certain routes, certain plays. And he’s just making sure that everybody’s on the same page. So it’s definitely cool to hear that type of leadership and command. If you know Kirk, that’s pretty normal from him. So it’s definitely kind of cool him being back in that room and him taking that control.”
As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Vikings as three-point road underdogs against the Packers.
