Kirk Cousins on team's potential & anticipation for Week 1 | Press Conference | Atlanta Falcons

on a serious note just we went out to walk through today and Raheem notified us of the uh shooting that took place uh not too far from here and so that was pretty sobering um you know our prayers praying for uh the families that are affected the school the community and um you know it's a it's a tough deal um you know I'm going to go home tonight and hug and kiss my kids um and then you know looking forward now U you know week one obviously kind of been build into this since I stood here in mid-march in the same room and uh and you feel that sense of urgency as much as you ever have and we're really excited to to get out there in front of our fans and really see you know the bz and and the energy that we're going to have the excitement it's it's uh going to be a great atmosphere Sunday and can't wait to get that going so um with that said I'll take any questions you have uh yeah Kurt um 5,000 Bank reps since OTA that seems like a lot of work yeah Zach hit us with that number he said how many reps do you think we got during training camp I said I don't know over a th000 he said about 2,000 and then he said otaa is about 2500 so almost 5,000 reps and uh I mean to me that was comforting you know comforting to know just how much we've been through you can forget easily how much work we've put in um and we have done a lot to to build and um and now it now it counts now it's the real thing and we've got to turn that into uh production you know in the real thing and uh and that's what we've been saying I've been standing here for weeks months talking about how it's just talk right now and that's all it can be in May and and July but uh eventually it's got to become not just not just talk but actual substance and it'll start on Sunday we talked a lot about you know your health coming back and seems you've been full go for quite a while now but you know you'll be hit for the first time sure maybe you know probably at some I don't know if I've ever gone through a game on scathed sure sure you almost kind of want to get out of the way like you know yeah you do in a sick way you do um um get popped I'll probably tell the first guy that hits me thank you within reason you know it's good get that get that taste of blood in your mouth a little bit so uh um yeah it's a balance there but no there's no doubt red jersey is not real football I said that for a long time red jersey is not real football and I understand why we wear them but uh uh there's no substitute for the real deal and we'll be seeing it Sunday uh Raheem Zach was in here he was joking he said don't let him fool you that rahee is actually an offensive coach now uh he's talked in the past about how he's always liked to hang out in the quarterback room when he's not a offensive coach does he how do you kind of see him imparting his knowledge uh with you and the rest of the team I think Zach's quote is a great synopsis of my respect for Raheem I've never had a head coach who has that much experience on both sides of the ball leading up to his time as a head coach and it is very unique very unique um he can talk both sides of the ball both languages um you know I can go to him to ask questions about defense and then he can translate back to me in offense so I don't have to do that translation which I've often had to do with defensive coaches so it's it's very rare it's very valuable I think it will help me as a quarterback in terms of a communication and understanding where I'm coming from and what I need I think it will also help trying to learn about defense I think it will help him lead the team because that's what he has to do is is oversee the whole show and um I I tell people now I say I don't know if I was an owner if I'd ever hire a head coach who didn't have experience on both sides of the ball if I was a head coach I would start trying to force people to have to learn other other sides of the ball because it would help them in their long-term development as a coach so um and and Kyle shanan wouldn't have hired rahee as a receiver coach if he didn't think Raheem was that capable you know and so that says a lot about him too that he even was brought over to the offensive side of the ball in the first place what interesting about your point about both sides is the fact that you and Jesse have had yall you know yeah and Justin yeah right like and Justin now and I'm curious now that Justin's in the fold what you've seen from him in those scenarios but also kind of his immediate impact that you've already seen him since he's been full go recently yeah I got a text from a old teammate of mine in Washington who played with Justin and Denver and he uh he also played here and he texted me when I signed and he said here's the guys you're going to really like on the team who I play with who are just awesome and he was like you know 100% on each guy like after a few months I texted him and say like you were exactly right and the second we we signed jused that same teammate texted and he said you're going to love Justin Simmons this guy's a real deal on the field off the field and so uh I thought well you were you were batting a thousand with the other guys so I think you'll be batting a thousand still but uh great acquisition and um it's tough because he is new and so there's a little bit of just like I had to do in March and April you don't come in guns blazing you know you have to kind of observe and and and see how things are done and and make sure you learn the scheme and and then and so I think we haven't even seen you know what he can be or will be as the year goes on um and I think uh you know it's a really great safety Duo back there having fun asking some of the guys like what's the difference between Kurt Cousins during like the off season like Kurt Cousins now oh boy and so ban said that like you know your fre LAX having fun and now he's like he made this space yeah there's a little bit of that so what what are the differences with you kind of well I'm trying to work on that I don't want there to be a big difference I think honestly my wife would tell me that you know you really got to be the guy who's just cracking jokes and having fun all the time that's that's your best self so I I know she's right but it's hard for me I I the intensity comes out and the focus and and the significance of the moment and so I'm trying to find that balance but uh I'm sure you know my teammates feel a little bit you know just when it's week one we all have that a little bit but um my goal this year is that whatever that other side of me is would never leave you know and that I would be having a a lot of fun playing the game from the first week to the last regardless of what happens that's kind of a goal for me and and uh so we'll see if we can do it my wife will try to keep me honest about it how much have you thought about this moment of getting back quite a bit quite a bit certainly off the injury you know you have your your your picture in the moment you're back playing um but then also coming to a new team you know and even when we warmed up in the preseason game against Jacksonville there you're trying to Envision what it'll be like in three weeks from that that day um when you're back there on Sunday so uh there's that that Vision too but um you know it's it should be a great great atmosphere and great opportunity a lot of energy how would you describe the two sides of K cousin yeah um it uh yeah something like that something like that I think there's an intensity there's a seriousness there's a focus my wife will tell you Kirk seriousness is not a virtue uh so you know seriousness is good and all but um I think you got to balance it with with having fun and enjoying the moment and and so I never want to lose my intensity but um but I also want to make sure I I have a blast as I'm playing I think that's when your best self comes out is when you're having a blast have you noticed that you perform better when you are kind of in that mode rather than the too serious yeah I think so I think so until you maybe forget a motion or forget a snap count or have a delay game and then maybe you say a maybe I shouldn't crack a joke anymore but uh no I think I think you do tend to play your best when you find that perfect balance between uh relaxed and also very focused and that's a a delicate place to be but um when I've been there that's when football's the most fun and usually the most productive um c as you get ready for the Steelers um I'll go from the back up what do you see with from what Mak pack such a great player well I think he's an intelligent football player I think he sees the game really well um I think he's a very versatile player he could do a lot of things um and um I think he's a team leader for them and you know he's kind of the similar to the way I talked about Justin and Jesse I would think he's in that same mold as a player and uh them getting Patrick queen and the middle there what do he bring to or project oh yeah not played on an elite defense last year knows what it looks like um you know I just think high high respect for you know Patrick for his production as a player in his career for um the defense he's now on for the coaches they have um it'll be one of the you know best groups we play all year and a great challenge for us and up front they got the you know the rushers of tack who just got some money yeah no it's a he's it's a great group um again just full of professionals and uh productive players who have been very consistent um they're not up and down players they're players who are going to get after you from the first snap to the last and that's an intensity and a and an Excellence that we have to to match uh play in and play out all the way through and it's a great challenge for us how critical is a healthy col to this offense yeah I think our best players got to be on the field for us to be who we uh who we want to be um um you know Kyle's uh got a lot of ability just walking off the field talking to one of our defensive backs who was covering him today who had some thoughts for for how good Kyle can be and um and I agree you know I just think that um it's a great opportunity for for him for our offense this year to really uh you know be Playmakers and uh and we got to have them out there what do the what do the DB say exactly well not to divulg too much but he was just saying how talented Kyle can be and and uh and how much he can really threaten a defensive back and and I agree wholeheartedly and uh and so it'll be exciting to um you know get him out there and get him going how have you already seen Zack Robinson grow and learn as a play caller yeah it's still so early but uh uh I think he's got a great football mind I think uh he's learned from great people um I think he does a good job of innovating I think he also does a good job of having an identity and not just pulling play play from out of nowhere but actually having a system and an identity while also being creative which is an interesting balance to find but the great play callers find it um his calm will always stand out to me I think uh you know that's a good balance balance for me you know to have somebody who's pretty steady and doesn't ride a roller coaster um I think that'll be a demeanor that will help help our offense to to kind of be have Poise and the noise if you will and um you know we we got to we're going to get through some uh we're going to be in some battles this year together all of us and we really haven't been yet and so there's that you know newness to it where you say hey we know it's coming but it hasn't happened yet but we've got to be ready for when it does to all kind of stick together and rely on each other and um and make sure that um you know we get better from it do you think the team's identity will be determined by all in week one no I I kind of view it as stag of the tour to France a little bit that you know week one happens and good bad you can't carry it with you to week two it's just individual stages and uh you get to the end of after week 18 and you stack up 17 games and you say how do we look and um you know I think you get yourself in trouble if you start to carry over a good performance or a bad performance in a way where it you know affects how you would go about your business the next week so you just try to have the same habits and and um and I think that gives you the best chance for success but you certainly want to build momentum you know through the year and that certainly can be done when you're playing well and winning what do you when you think back to that uh rehub process and was there something that you were really looking forward to when you got back and has that happened yet or is it something that'll you know happen on Sunday I think it was a it was a first it was you know walking without a a boot or assistance and then it was you know can I can I jog and then it was what about throwing and pushing off my back leg and and then practice and then it was you know cutting and running away from people or trying to run away from people so I think it it was just this gradual progression and each time you could check a a a box and then the other thing I learned was it's one thing to do it it's another thing to do it painfree so it's sayy I'm walking but it still hurts to walk but I can do it and then it's okay now I'm walking without pain and so that's kind of the other part of it is when you start to realize oh I'm I'm making these movements and it no longer has any pain attached that's also a good feeling from what you've seen from this offense in practice to what you potentially think the ceiling might be sense what are three adjectives you would use to describe what you've seen from this group adjectives well making me think about school a little bit here those are descriptive words I'm thinking of school Schoolhouse Rock um you guys are journalists you're good at that so uh adjectives I would say explosive is something we really want to be uh I think having an edge uh and uh and then we want to be you know very good at execution how about the three e you like that you like that there's my uh there's my journalism major for you so if we can be an explosive offense have to meas to ourselves and execute well I think we put ourselves in a position to uh to be successful and a lot of foure effort you got to have great effort every day and uh see if we can do the four EAS this year D what do you think all right what is like I guess maybe the one thing that you were looking forward to the most you miss the most about playing like was it you know being there for that touchdown yeah what a great question what a great question um you know there's something there's something in you just like that's kind of sick that you want to get hit a little bit you know because there's this part of in there that loves to compete um I think that was it you know just not being able to compete not being able to to go out and rally with guys and find a way to get it done together um you know when you're on the outside looking in that that's that's tough um you know my boys are getting into an Asian hour they can watch me play and remember it and be a part of it and uh you know when when they were watching other people play it was like oh man I hope I can come back and play because I want my boys to be watching this game you know with me playing and so uh that'll be a privilege too on Sunday when you step out there and that they're watching and and can really take it in You' talked about Atlanta as a home away from home what do you think it's going to feel like to to sit up in front of that those fans no it's a privilege uh we've been you know Southern Hospitality is a real thing I we've been so well received since March and every time whether it's the grocery store or the barber shop or the airport I mean everybody's been so positive and welcoming and I I look at Julie when they walk away after saying you know thanks for being here we're pulling for you I say you know I better play well we got to win you know cuz they are they are doing they're doing their part the fans are doing their part um and we're going to need them Sunday and all season long and uh and then we we want to deliver for for them anything else all right thank you