One of the top quarterbacks in the NFL is out of action. On Monday, the Minnesota Vikings announced that Kirk Cousins underwent an MRI, and it was confirmed he suffered a torn Achilles tendon. The team did not announce how long Cousins will be out, but he will likely miss the remainder of the season. Cousins suffered the injury during the game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Following the game, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell feared that Cousins suffered an Achilles tear. “Me personally, our whole team, our whole organization, we’re all hurting this morning for Kirk,” O’Connell said in his Monday press conference, per NFL.com. “Just knowing how much he’s invested into this team, and from a standpoint of his leadership and what he’s meant to every single guy in that locker room and really what he’s meant to me since my arrival here last year. We’re going to miss him, there’s no doubt about it that we’re going to miss him.”
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This is the first major injury in Cousins’ 12-year career. But he is expected to be with the team after surgery as they make a second-half push to the playoffs. “My expectations are, and in my dialogue briefly with Kirk since yesterday, he has every intent of still being a major, major part of our leadership, part of our quarterback room, a part of our offense, a part of our plans each week schematically like he’s been, right there every step of the way, and quite honestly I don’t expect anything less from Kirk being the man and the leader that he is.,” O’Connell said. “Regardless of the circumstances, as tough of a break, with the momentum we have as a team right now, we have to move forward.”
Cousins, 35, has been with the Vikings since 2018 after spending his first six seasons with the now-Washington Commanders. When Cousins signed with the Vikings in 2018, it was a three-year contract with $84 million and fully guaranteed. In March 2020, Cousins signed a two-year, $66 million contract extension, and last year, Cousins signed a one-year, $35 million fully guaranteed contract extension through 2023. In his career, Cosuins has been selected to the Pro Bowl four times and led the NFL in completion percentage in 2015.
