Cousins’ focus is on camp, not GM’s comments
- ESPN.com national NFL writer
- ESPN.com NFC North reporter, 2008-2013
- Covered Vikings for Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999-2008
EAGAN, Minn. — Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins on Thursday brushed off recent comments from general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, closing the door on an awkward start to training camp at TCO Performance Center.
Asked if he had any reason to question the Vikings’ commitment to him, Cousins said: “I haven’t given it much thought with training camp being so busy and consuming so much of my time. I’m not too concerned about it.”
In a story published earlier this week about team-building philosophies, USA Today quoted Adofo-Mensah saying: “The one asset where you get nervous about not burning it down is quarterback.”
Adofo-Mensah later noted the risk in moving on from an established starter in hopes of finding an elite-level replacement.
The Vikings decided in March to sign Cousins to a contract extension that makes it likely he will be the team’s starter through at least the 2023 season. Cousins will receive $40 million this season and $30 million next season, all fully guaranteed.
On Tuesday, Adofo-Mensah said he was speaking theoretically to USA Today about team-building at the position and not Cousins specifically.
“At times I’m a really passionate person,” Adofo-Mensah said. “I love talking about this stuff, team-building and decision-making. In those moments I can get theoretical and high level, but as the general manager of the Minnesota Vikings, everybody is going to fill in the gaps of what I’m saying and relate it to the team. That’s unfair for me to put that on the organization and I never want to do that. At times your words can be airlifted out of the context of the conversation and placed on the page. As somebody who is new to this, I have to get better at understanding how that might look and apply things.”
Adofo-Mensah indicated that he reached out to Cousins this week to ensure they were on the same page.
“Kirk knows how I feel about him,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’re in a great place. I love his mindset coming into camp and that’s where we’re at.”
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