Written by Joon Lee at Washington Post.com
A lot has changed for Kirk Cousins in a year. He earned the starting quarterback position, beating out former face of the franchise Robert Griffin III. He put together one of the best seasons ever for a Redskins quarterback. And he’s getting paid, earning nearly $20 million for the upcoming season under the franchise tag.
Barring injury, he will be the starter when the Redskins begin the regular season on Sept. 12, a Monday night prime-time date at home against Pittsburgh. But as camp opens, Cousins is still getting handle on being “the guy” from day one.
“We’ll find out as we go. Right now it’s all just talk, but there’s no doubt you have more comfort when you’ve played and been the starter and been out there and had experiences,” said Cousins, who completed 69.8 percent of his passes while throwing for 4,166 yards with 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions .”What we went through last year, I think has helped me now having confidence going forward. You know, hopefully it translates into a great offense and a lot of production, but it’s just talk right now until you go out there and prove it.”
Coming into training camp assured of the starting job has allowed Cousins to take on a new role with his teammates, who so far have been impressed.
“He’s the franchise quarterback. He’s getting paid,” wide receiver DeSean Jackson said. “He doesn’t really have to worry about nobody on his heels and he’s doing everything that you ask from a franchise quarterback. We’re all behind him. We all support him and vice versa. He’s bouncing things off of us as we do off of him. It’s a great intangible to have as a quarterback.”
“You can tell [he’s the starter]. He’s very confident,” tight end Jordan Reed said. “In meetings, he’s been speaking up and leading us and it’s great to see him step up.”
And while the expectations for Cousins have evolved, his standards for himself have not changed.
Jackson speaks highly of Cousins’s ability to lead, both on and off the field. And while Cousins certainly proved that he can perform at a high level, Jackson said that the desire for an athlete to prove himself should never change.
“I always thought that Kirk was a smart guy. He has a great intelligence to him,” Jackson said. “As far as the difference, I see that he’s focused and has a lot to prove still, as any athlete. We all come out to want to prove, to want to show what we’re capable of doing at a high level. That’s every year.”
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