“WOAH” – Former Vikings’ LB says HC Mike Zimmer never really like or trusted Kirk Cousins
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Mike Zimmer and Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins is a good quarterback and is liked by everyone in the league. There is literally no hate towards him because he always gives his best and the teams he’s been with didn’t have a rich history that weighed on Cousins’ shoulders.
However, there s definitely one person who hates the Minnesota Vikings’ signal-caller. And that person is the team’s head coach Mike Zimmer himself. The relationship between a head coach and a quarterback is of utmost importance as these two are pivotal to the team’s success. And the latest reports suggest there has always been bad blood between these two.
Kirk Cousins had a difficult time under Mike Zimmer
Ben Leber, a former linebacker who played for the Vikings from 2006 to 2010 and now covers the team as a sideline reporter for radio broadcasts is confident that Kirk Cousins will flourish under new head coach Kevin O’Connell. “I think he’s gonna finally thrive, really thrive, in a system and a coach that actually respects him,” Leber told Zach Gelb of CBS Sports Radio.
Leber said that Mike Zimmer always disliked having Cousins at quarterback. Cousins joined the Vikings in 2018 with a then-historic deal. “I mean, It’s not like I’m not breaking news here that Mike Zimmer did not like Kirk Cousins. And I think that showed in the way that Kirk behaved and the way that he carried himself. The team was never given to him, or he was never allowed to earn the trust of the team because the head coach, I think, just didn’t like him.”
During his four years in Minnesota, he has had only one winning season and one playoff appearance. Along with Zimmer as head coach, Cousins has a record of 33-29-1 for 16,387 yards, 124 TDs, and only 36 INTs. Leber believes that the reason Cousins hasn’t been able to lead the team to greater heights despite his incredible performance is the team’s inept defense. “We couldn’t win with the crap defense that we’ve had the last two years,” he said. “We couldn’t stop the run, at all. Ever. And then in key moments of the games . . . we couldn’t stop any two-minute offense. So, to me, the biggest liability of this team has been defense. All this team has to do is play good team defense, finish in the mid-teens at the end of the season, and they’re playoff bound, and they can make some noise.”
“That was a top-10 offense last year, with a very green, first-time offensive coordinator [Klint Kubiak]. Where was their defense ranked last year? Thirty-first. The year before that, I think they were ranked 27th. So people can rail on Kirk and rail on this offense and say we can’t win with him or we can’t win with this offense. I say that’s total BS,” Leber added.
Seeing the immense success Sean McVay has had with the Los Angeles Rams at such young age, the Vikings have followed suit and hired Kevin O’Connell as their new head coach. O’Connell, 37, served as an offensive coordinator under McVay last season. Now that there has been a dynamic shift in the Vikings’ management, we might see an entirely new Kirk Cousins in 2022.
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Yash Karandekar
(1023 Articles Published)