O'Connell wants Cousins back in 2024: 'Kirk knows how I feel about him'
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell wants quarterback Kirk Cousins back for the 2024 season after the signal-caller tore his Achilles tendon in Week 8.
"Yeah, you guys know how I feel about Kirk. Kirk knows how I feel about Kirk," O'Connell said, according to Kevin Seifert of ESPN.
The pair had good internal talks on a variety of subjects, including the direction the team will go at the position moving forward. "... Kirk Cousins is going to be healthy again. I know he's going to be a free agent after this season, but Kirk knows how I feel about him, and that will be something that hopefully works itself out," O'Connell added.
Cousins suffered the injury in the Vikings' victory over the Green Bay Packers. He was placed on injured reserve Tuesday, ending his season.
The 35-year-old is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent following the 2023 campaign. Cousins signed a one-year extension with the team in 2022 after signing a two-year, $66 million extension in 2020. Cousins was playing some of the best football of his career before tearing his Achilles tendon.
He is currently tied for first in passing touchdowns (18), second in passing yards (2,331), and third in passer rating (103.8).
The veteran passer was a big reason why the team was able to crawl back from a 0-3 start to a 4-4 record through eight games.
"I think he was playing as well as anybody in the National Football League and one of the hardest parts about coping with this ... (is) the fact that he was experiencing his best season in the National Football League and where we could have gone as a team.
"Hopefully, we are still going to get to that place. But I know without Kirk Cousins and that high-level quarterback play we were getting from him week in and week out, it's going a challenge, but one that we've got to accept and try to thrive," O'Connell said.
The Vikings acquired quarterback Joshua Dobbs from the Arizona Cardinals before the trade deadline. O'Connell announced on Tuesday that rookie signal-caller Jaren Hall will get the start in Week 9 against the Atlanta Falcons.
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