Making $56 million the next two seasons, Kirk Cousins isn’t going anywhere other than the huddle on the field, but the Vikings’ starting quarterback knows his future isn’t bright if he doesn’t rebound from a disastrous performance last week against the Packers.
“Believe me, I’m not going to be playing quarterback here if I play the way I did this past Sunday for much longer,” Cousins said Wednesday. “I understand that, and I look forward to going out there and playing at a much higher level.”
Cousins admitted extreme disappointment in his 14-of-30 passing performance at Lambeau Field, which included a bad interception in the end zone late in the game and two fumbles (one lost).
But let’s get real: Sean Mannion isn’t taking Cousins’ starting job any time soon, and head coach Mike Zimmer still has all the faith in the world in his $84 million QB.
“Kirk had an up and down game last week. He’s going to be fine,” said Zimmer. “We have the utmost confidence in him. He’s in a good place where he’s going to play good this week and continue to play good for the rest of the year.”
Cousins noted that his late-game interception that ripped away a chance for the Vikings to win after trailing 21-0 left him as dumbfounded as everyone else.
“If I’m in that situation again the ball is going in the stands,” he said.
Cousins made a reference to an interception Tom Brady threw in the red zone during last year’s AFC Championship Game, saying his interception against the Packers made him feel the same way Brady did back in January, thinking: “How did I do that?”
The good news for Cousins is that he gets to play at U.S. Bank Stadium this Sunday against a Raiders defense that is allowing an NFL-worst 341 passing yards per game and has yet to intercept a pass while surrendering five touchdown passes.
Granted, the Raiders faced Chiefs quarterback Pat Mahomes, who ripped them apart for 443 yards and four touchdowns. In Week 1, Joe Flacco and the Broncos went for 268 yards and one passing touchdown.
