Kirk Cousins is the new Tom Brady, minus the 35 career playoff victories and seven Super Bowls.
Cousins, speaking to the media at the start of Minnesota Vikings training camp on Tuesday, said he’s going all in on a body work plan that helped Brady play in the NFL until he was nearly 46 years old.
The revelation came when Cousins was asked if there is anything he’s added to his routine to keep his body fresh entering his age-35 season.
“Yeah, a big one. I hired a guy full time,” Cousins said. “I just felt like, I’m going to go all in. [Tom Brady] had Alex Guerrero and I just felt there was a lot of merit in saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got a small window here to maximize.’ and if I play one year more than I otherwise would have because I took it this seriously, then that’s well worth it. Decided to go full time. Every free moment I’ll be running home to get work. Time will tell, but I’m excited about not only the benefit of the help the but peace of mind it gives me because I know I can just show up, turn my brain off and he’s going to handle it.”
His new body coach is Chad Cook, a trainer Cousins has known for years and worked with him on his new routine for all of June, which Cousins said “worked really well. Most of the work is done at Cousins’s home.
“I just feel that this is something serious enough – my health, staying on the field, being around a long time – it’s not worth cutting corners. Let’s go all in, let’s overcommit to this if we have to. If I’m guilty of that, I can live with that,” Cousins added.
Brady has credited Guerrero’s alternative approach to nutrition and fitness routines for lengthening his career, allowing him to play at a high level until he retired after the 2022 season. Brady was six years older than the next oldest starting quarterback in the NFL when he retired.
“I think I’ve been given a gift and I’ve lived this my whole life,” Cousins said of playing in the NFL. “I’m going to do all I can to maximize that. Shame on me if there’s more out there to get and I didn’t do all I could. So even if it ends after this year, I gotta feel like I walked away in peace of mind, gave everything I possibly could, left nothing out there.”
That doesn’t mean Cousins plans to retire after the 2023 season.
“I want to play long enough for my boys to be a part of it, to remember it,” said Cousins.
Related: Watch: Kirk Cousins sings to Tom Brady at NFL awards show
