When Kirk Cousins was an NFL rookie with Washington successful 2012, Rex Grossman was the seasoned teammate helium turned to for guidance arsenic a fourth-round draught pick. Grossman was past successful his 10th play with a commencement nether halfway successful a Super Bowl.
Cousins was thing and everything but shy, peppering Grossman with question aft question.
“I conscionable felt similar I needed to inquire him everything I perchance could, possibly to the constituent of being annoying,” Cousins recalled Wednesday greeting astatine Intermountain Health Performance Center. “He and I built a bully rapport implicit my 2 years successful Washington with him. I felt similar having idiosyncratic similar that made a large quality for maine successful my career.”
Now successful his 15th NFL play and first quarterbacking the Las Vegas Raiders, Cousins could marque that benignant of people this play connected rookie Fernando Mendoza. With 167 vocation starts (plus 298 touchdown passes) and counting aft manager Klint Kubiak announced him arsenic the starter — unless Mendoza unseats him during grooming campy — he’s a exemplary of professionalism for the aboriginal franchise backmost to larn from and follow.
Cousins, turning 38 adjacent period and making $20 cardinal guaranteed successful 2026, practiced Wednesday with the pep successful his measurement of a sophomore acceptable to marque his varsity debut. Afterward, helium downplayed the value of Kubiak announcing him the starting quarterback.
“I deliberation successful this league, it’s benignant of 1 time astatine a time,” Cousins said successful a structure adjacent to the outdoor signifier field. “You’re lone arsenic a bully arsenic your past throw. You’re lone arsenic bully arsenic your past practice. … You effort to, each day, spell retired and gain the accidental and ne'er instrumentality thing for granted.”
Perhaps his position was sharpened and shaped by his past 2 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, who lured him distant from the Minnesota Vikings successful 2024 with $100 cardinal guaranteed. The pursuing month, they drafted Michael Penix Jr., who usurped him arsenic their starter by season’s end.
The pursuing season, erstwhile Penix went down with a season-ending teardrop successful his near ACL, Cousins went from the best-paid backup to victor successful 5 of his past 7 starts. Kubiak knows he’s a exemplary for Mendoza but besides values the top-end play that led to 7 touchdown passes against 2 interceptions and 4 consecutive wins to decorativeness 2025.
“His worth arsenic a subordinate connected the squad is the astir important thing,” Kubiak said Tuesday. “His leadership, his seasoned beingness and the mode helium played successful the outpouring was excellent. So, that’s wherefore we brought him here, to play truly bully shot and evidently the mentorship, that’s a byproduct of that. That’s the benignant of feline Kirk is.”
With Cousins guiding the first-team offense, Mendoza operated the 2nd squad Wednesday with poise and precision — completing passes and scrambling successfully astir the near extremity during 11-on-11. Mendoza and fourth-year passer Aidan O’Connell — who worked Wednesday with the 3rd squad — are tasked with pushing Cousins, per Kubiak, but the trio (plus fourth-stringer Jacob Clark) is competing collaboratively.
“That’s pro football,” Cousins said. “I deliberation each time we spell retired there, we each effort to enactment unneurotic and rise the modular each time for 1 another. I deliberation each presumption group, we’re each competing. I conscionable deliberation that’s the satellite we’ve lived successful adjacent going backmost to college. … We’re each supporting 1 different and moving together. That’s conscionable the travel we’ve ever been connected and it’s beauteous overmuch the norm.”
Cousins of people is person to the extremity than the commencement of his travel successful the NFL, drafting connected acquisition to assistance the Raiders coalesce offensively. Fellow free-agent signee and halfway Tyler Linderbaum said Wednesday that during organized squad activities, Cousins referenced a concern from 2018 and noted “not a batch of guys that tin bash that and propulsion from each those games and experiences, and he’s learned from them to assistance him and present assistance this squad beryllium successful.”
From the questioner to the answerer — and a Raider.
“He’s a large person and relation exemplary that you privation successful determination astatine the backmost position,” Linderbaum added. “A feline that’s played a batch of shot and I’m conscionable grateful to beryllium capable to walk clip with him and larn much astir shot being astir him.”
Contact Sam Gordon astatine sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon connected X.
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