Everything we learned about Kirk Cousins from the Netflix 'Quarterback' series
The long-anticipated release of Netflix's "Quarterback" series arrived at 2 a.m. Central Time Wednesday and we binged it in its entirety to find out everything we possibly could about Kirk Cousins, who is one of three quarterbacks along with Patrick Mahomes and Marcus Mariota featured on the show.
Each of the eight episodes reveal the highs and lows from games, the mental and physical grind they endure during the week, balancing life at home and dealing with scrutiny from the outside world.
What we learned from Episode 1
The first episode helps fans get to know Cousins and his "boring" personality.
"Maybe that's it. I'm boring and when I do something that isn't as boring, it becomes something funny," Cousins said with a laugh. The show made sure to include a tweet from Twin Cities radio personality Dana Wessel joking about Cousins's clothes coming from Kohl's.
On the field, the episode revealed the fast high and sudden low Cousins and the Vikings felt after crushing the Packers in Week 1 only to get destroyed by the Eagles in Week 2.
"Week 1 I just remember coming off the field with how smooth things went," Cousins recalled. "It was a nearly flawless game offensively, which was surprising with a new head coach."
As for Week 2...
"I was blown away after Week 1 how clean the game was. And it was almost a false sense of security after Week 1 that reared its ugly head in Week 2. So that started with that first play, and that run check, then it kind of snowballed from there and it was a game that got away from us."
What we learned from Episode 2
Cousins has a lakeside home in Michigan.
A tour of his house includes a "Memory Room" that is tucked away from the main view because it's too "self promotional."
Among the items in the room is a photo and signed football from his elementary-age football coach, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary. The room is also loaded with game balls and a letter his father wrote him in the eighth grade in which his father said he needs to work on his footwork and being a vocal leader.
There's also a notch in the Memory Room specifically for a Lombardi Trophy.
"He built the notch. Now it's my job to go get one," said Cousins.
The episode focuses on Cousins's return to Washington, D.C. for the first time with the Vikings in Week 8 of last season. At one point, Cousins gets drilled while making a completion to Justin Jefferson.
"You'll be alright," Daron Payne told Cousins, giving him a love tap after hitting him hard.
Cousins stayed on his back surrounded by the training staff as he groined from getting the wind knocked out of him.
"That's what they get for playing man coverage," Cousins said while moaning in discomfort.
The play resulted in a big gain to Justin Jefferson to set up a touchdown that fueled a come-from-behind win.
What we learned from Episode 3
The third episode gives a behind-the-curtain look at how badly quarterbacks can be physically beaten up during games and how Cousins gets his body ready week in and week out.
"Most of my bodywork centers around trying to get rid of inflammation so that my joints don't ache, and I don't feel the aches and pains of the daily grind. Monday morning, I usually get into the cold tub to ice my lower body," Cousins explained.
"Many times I'll get home from a game on a Sunday night and I'll have a hard time opening a door because my hands are swollen. And you'll be like, 'How am I gonna grip the football on Wednesday and Thursday?' Somehow you do, and by the following Sunday, you forget you had that injury."
He continued: "I'm pretty beat up. The bruises on my ribs on both sides are not visible. They may come to the surface at some point. When you have pain right here in your midsection, it's kind of hard to think about much else."
On Fridays, he gets a massage and an adjustment from a chiropractor at his home. It was something he learned from his former teammate in Washington, wide receiver Santana Moss.
"I had a teammate in Washington named Santana Moss who played 14 years. And I got to play with him for his 12th, 13th and 14th years. And he would tell me how in Year 14, he felt just as good as he did Year 1. I also knew he had a bodywork person come over to his house for multiple days in the week to work on him. So I started going over there and saw the work that it took for Santana to be in Year 14 and still, not only healthy, but fast and athletic. And he kind of gave me a vision for what it could look like as I got older and make sure I'm out there playing as opposed to standing watching."
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The episode also takes fans closer to the thrilling game between the Vikings and Bills at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo. You know, the game where Justin Jefferson made one of the best catches in NFL history.
"I just told Justin in the huddle, 'This is probably gonna be a jump ball.' Not a lot of great play designs or 4th-and-18," Cousins remembered.
"I threw it, but couldn't really make sense of what was happening. So I was judging what happened based off our sideline's reaction. I'll never forget seeing Eric Kendricks making it clear that we got that ball. That's when I knew. When I saw Eric on the sideline reacting like that, I thought, 'Here we go.'"
"There's a lot of trust there, that even in tight coverage, when you put the ball out there for Justin, he'll make a play," Cousins added.
There's also a great moment in the episode where the cameras and audio reveal that Cousins called the 4th-and-1 from the goal line QB sneak that failed in the fourth quarter.
"It was my fault that, you know, I called the QB sneak. We didn't get in. And so I'm kind of having to process, you know, a pretty critical error there," he recollected.
The sideline conversation that followed included head coach Kevin O'Connell telling Cousins that "you just gotta let me help you."
What we learned from Episode 4
This episode, titled "Mind Games," brings fans a view of what calling plays is like for a NFL quarterback. Each call can be extremely complicated with a cluster of terms with each word carrying its own meaning.
Example: Rib H Fun Cheddar Can Brawl and Cheddar H Bronze into Turbo
"You can't afford to know it pretty well. It has to be locked in. You have to get to a place where it's just instinctual," says Cousins, who utilizes Neurofeedback brain training every week to help stimulate his brain so he can maintain focus on tasks at hand for as long as possible.
The training requires Cousins to place electrodes on his head. Those electrodes monitor brain activity that is immediately analyzed by a computer for immediate feedback. In the example shown in the episode, Cousins hooked electrodes to his head while sitting in his car. He then watched a video on his phone and he can tell in real time when his focus is waning because the screen will fade out as he loses attention to detail.
"It's a great way for my brain to be trained to be at its absolute best," he said.
The episode also features Cousins's 17-yard rushing touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals. Head coach Kevin O'Connell's reaction after Cousins scored was a classic moment: "Whaat the f*** was that?!" O'Connell reacted with a laugh.
What we learned from Episode 5
What would a series about quarterbacks be without focusing on Kirk Cousins in primetime football games?
"I'm aware, you know, going back years, that people have this narrative that, you know, I struggle in prime time," Cousins admitted, with the show putting a spotlight on Minnesota's 40-3 home loss to the Cowboys the week after the thrilling win over Buffalo.
"I keep going back, scratching my head, being like, 'I feel like I played pretty well at night games.' At home, I've got a bunch of the game balls that NFL gives for their games. I've got five or six of them. You're like, 'I don't think I'd get those if I struggle at night games.' But, the reality is, you tend to play really good football teams in those prime-time games, so they tend to be games that are gonna be hard to win unless you play really, really well as a team. We certainly haven't won enough."
What we learned from Episode 6
While the bulk of this episode zooms in on Minnesota's historic 33-point comeback win against the Indianapolis Colts, it also shows how Cousins takes Tuesdays during the season "entirely off." He escapes from the game for 24 hours and does anything and everything that isn't football.
"That day just really resets our entire family," says his wife, Julie Cousins.
Cousins also uses Tuesdays to read fan mail
"Thanks for your kind note. We're lucky to have loyal fans like you. Don't hold it against your teacher that she's a Packers fan. We all have our faults," Cousins wrote in a letter back to a young fan.
The review of the 39-36 win over the Colts, in which the Vikings trailed 33-0 at the half, shows the progression of Cousins's emotions during the roller coaster day.
"Everything that could go wrong did go wrong," he recalled of the first half that was filled with disasters included a blocked punt return for a touchdown and an interception return for a touchdown.
"Oh, I'm getting frustrated," Cousins said when the Vikings were down 23-0 in the second quarter. It was so bad that his wife considering leaving at halftime to take their son home for a nap and TV time.
"I remember walking off the field after we scored thinking at least we won't get shutout today," Cousins recalled after throwing a touchdown pass to KJ Osborn to cut the deficit to 33-7 with 8:20 left in the third quarter.
"I think when we cut it to two scores, you realized we had something," Cousins added. The Vikings then made it 36-28 with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter before Dalvin Cook's screen pass went for a 64-yard touchdown.
Cousins hit TJ Hockenson for the game-tying two-point conversion and the Vikings won on Greg Joseph's walk-off field goal late in overtime. After the game, Cousins wanted to share the moment with his son, Cooper.
"Cooper just had this once-in-a-lifetime experience with his dad in the locker room. I just love that so much. That's what it's all about," Julie Cousins said.
Unable to comprehend the monumental performance, Cooper was more interested in getting some food, so Kirk took him to the team's postgame food area where Cooper requested five strawberries and one cookie.
"That's good moderation," Cousins joked.
What we learned from Episode 7
Ah, yes. It's that time in the series where the lights get really bright and Cousins and the Vikings melt in the playoffs at home against the New York Giants. Fourth-and-8 ring a bell?
"Last possession of the game and I was fully expecting us to go down and score and get a two-point conversion and go for the win," said Cousins. Then came Cousins throwing short and 4th-and-8 and the Giants won.
"When your throw is short of the sticks like that and he's tackled, you know, you get a lot of grief for it. But Justin was doubled, and instinctively, it felt careless to throw it to him with the game on the line," he reasoned.
"It came down to TJ. He was matched, and I didn't really want to work him, but I felt with the rush closing in it was I'm either getting sacked or this ball's going to TJ. They're two bad options. We should have won that game. The Giants executed better than we did. Just felt like the standard wasn't met."
There was a camera rolling in the SUV on Cousins's drive home. Dejected, Cousins pulls into his driveway and regular life resumes. Julie notes how the next day is garbage day. They then go inside, give their kids a bath and Cousins puts his son to bed by reading him a book, singing him a song and saying a prayer.
What we learned from Episode 8
The final episode of the series is all about Super Bowl Week, which included the NFL Honors show when Cousins wore 17 chains and sang on stage with Kelly Clarkson. Beyond that, the episode shows the speech Cousins gave after accepting the Bart Starr Award for achieving greatness on and off the field.
"If you want to sum up the life of Bart Starr in a few words you would say things like leader, respected, humble, coachable, hard working, persevering, faithful, loving husband and devoted father. Who doesn't want these words said about them at the end of their life? However, you would miss something very significant about Bart Starr if you left out the word Christian," said Cousins, fighting back tears during an emotional moment.
"He understood as I do today: Football will one day end and life will be based on much more than football."
The final stanza featuring Cousins is back in his Memory Room at his Michigan home, where he's adding memorabilia from the season.
"While that was a special day and part of a special season, I'd like to think there's still more out there to go get," he said. "This little notch in this room is meant for a Super Bowl trophy and I'd like to have to move all this out someday to make room for the Lombardi Trophy."
