Kirk Cousins has many memories of his time here in Washington with the Redskins.
Cousins was a guest of the Kevin Sheehan Show podcast on Friday. During which Sheehan went back to Cousins’ 2012 rookie season for about half of the interview. Washington came into that season without a winning record since Joe Gibbs (2.0) in 2007, when the Redskins went 10-6 and made the playoffs. Following Jim Zorn’s two seasons in 2008 (8-8) and 2009 (4-12), the new coach brought to Washington was Mike Shanahan.
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The 2010 season was the unsuccessful Donovan McNabb experiment, as was 2011 with Rex Grossman, bringing 6-10 and 5-11 seasons, respectively. Washington owned the No. 6 overall pick in the draft. Former owner Daniel Snyder really wanted Baylor’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III. Snyder wanted Griffin enough that Washington traded three first-round picks and a second-round pick to move up from No. 6 overall to No. 2.
Snyder then allowed Shanahan to preside over the rest of the Redskins 2012 draft. When Shanahan selected Cousins in the 4th round (102 overall) shockwaves rolled throughout the NFL. Some may recall ESPN analysts the next week heavily criticizing Shanahan for drafting Cousins.
A couple of hours after being drafted, Cousins said his father said to him, «Kirk, Mike Shanahan picked you. And he not only picked you, but he kinda went off the reservation to pick you. So, that means he really believes in you and was willing to stick his neck out to believe in you. And he coached John Elway and Steve Young; he worked with people like Mike Holmgren. Everywhere he has been, there has been offensive success. So, if he is doubling down on you, I think that is a really good sign, even if it is a dead end.» Cousins added that time proved his dad right. «It changed the trajectory of my entire career when I went to Washington, though at the time I thought it was a dead end.»
Cousins expressed to Shanahan, that with the offense the Shanahans (Mike & son Kyle) were installing to fit Griffin for what he was ready to do in the NFL in 2012, that Cousins knew he wasn’t ready for all of that zone-read running game, as Griffin was.
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«I don’t know that I was necessarily ready to play right away. I think it was in my best interest to be a backup. The opposite was true for Robert, he was ready to play right away. It was really impressive what he did, with a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations on a really big stage. It was not too big for him.»
Griffin and Cousins being two rookie quarterbacks was also helpful for Cousins and Griffin each week during teaching meetings. Cousins shared that the Shanahans did a great job of not talking over their young quarterbacks’ heads. Teaching slowly and methodically, making sure they grasped concepts before moving on to something else.
«It did me a lot of good to have it taught to us at a pace we could learn it the right way, and then when Robert got hurt, that afforded me the opportunity in the off season to get so many reps with the starting offense to get a lot of experience through training camp.»
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Cousins did get called on in 2012 against the Ravens when Griffin was injured and they won the game in overtime. He then got his first start the next week in Cleveland. He said it was unsure all week, until the decision was made Saturday that Griffin would sit. «I remember Mike on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, there was no concern from him. I didn’t feel any tension from Mike. It was really calming for me. He just spoke very matter of factly. ‘Kirk, we are going to put you in a good position. We are not going to ask you to do too much. We are going to ask you to run some bootlegs. We have a good plan for them, you just stay within yourself. It was like he knew the future before it was going to happen. It was calming for me, but it was also like, ‘How can you be this calm, Mike?’
Sure enough, in the game, Kyle called 11 bootlegs; it put me in a position to be successful. He didn’t ask me to be a 12-year veteran. He asked me to be a guy who was making his first start. He called a game to put the wind at my back, and it helped that it was 50 degrees that day in Cleveland in December.»
Sheehan attempted to get Cousins to comment on what occurred following the game. The Griffins were upset with the Shanahans and with Cousins for playing such a good game. But Cousins didn’t want to discuss it, feeling there was no need for him to go down the road of how Griffin responded, so he didn’t.
He also chose to praise Griffin in how he battled to get back on the field for wins at Philly, and the season finale at home, defeating Dallas to win the NFC East. He also preaised Griffin for how he was playing in the playoff game against the Seahawks until he re-injured his knee, ending his 2012 season.
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Cousins also took a moment to recall a memory he enjoys following his days as a Redskin. «Rather than go 495, we (he and wife Julie) would go straight through and it would take us by RFK, in view of the Capitol. It had to be one of the prettiest drives you could have, coming home from a football game. I am so thrilled the Commanders new stadium is going to be at the old RFK site. It just seems like the perfect place to put it, to be in the shadow of the Capitol and the US Mall.»
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Kirk Cousins fondly recalls rookie season
