Kevin SeifertESPN Staff Writer Oct 30, 2023, 1:49 PM ET4 minutes read
Is Mac Jones an option for the Vikings? Schefter discusses business with McAfee
Adam Schefter talks to Pat McAfee about the trade deadline and whether the Vikings will make a move after Kirk Cousins suffered a torn Achilles tendon.
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — An MRI has confirmed that Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has suffered a torn right Achilles tendon and will miss the remainder of the season, the team said in a statement Monday.
Operation plans will be finalized this week. Coach Kevin O’Connell is scheduled to speak to reporters later Monday afternoon.
Cousins was playing in the final season of a contract that expires in March. In Week 8, he led the NFL in touchdown passes (16) and was second in passing yards (2,057).
He suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 24-10 win over the Green Bay Packers. As he tried to get into the pocket, his right leg buckled and he was sacked by Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
Cousins jumped off the field without putting any weight on his right leg. Before the injury, he had completed 23 of 31 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns.
O’Connell said after the game that he wasn’t ready to commit to a starter going forward. Rookie Jaren Hall is the most likely option for the Week 9 game at the Atlanta Falcons.
Hall finished Sunday’s game in place of Cousins. O’Connell said veteran backup Nick Mullens (back) could be activated from injured reserve as early as Week 10. The Vikings also have experienced Sean Mannion on their practice squad since Mullen’s injury.
Such conversations, standard for many NFL teams, have been foreign to the Vikings since signing Cousins in 2018. He has missed just two games during that span, one in 2019 when the Vikings sidelined their starters for the playoffs and the other in 2021 because of a positive test for COVID-19. His 88 starts with the Vikings are the most in the NFL during that span.
“It was just weird,” center Garrett Bradbury said as he watched Cousins limp away. “Whenever the Vikings are out there, Kirk is out there.”
Cousins’ star turn in the Netflix docuseries “Quarterback” and what he calls his “dad swag” style have taken him from one of the NFL’s most derided players to one of its most revered this season. The series not only provided insight into his family life and sense of humor, but also showcased the work he puts in to stay on the field every week.
“You see it every day how much he cares about his body,” right tackle Brian O’Neill said. “He lives and breathes because he is consistent and out there and available to us. It’s surprising and it hurts. People don’t understand how much he means to us.”
Tight end TJ Hockenson said: “There’s really nothing to say about it. I just love Kirk more than anything. I love his family. I love him. I love everything about him. Seeing a guy like that go down is always tough.”
Cousins and the Vikings held discussions in the spring about a possible contract extension and instead restructured it to give him a guaranteed entry into the free-agent market in March 2024. However, Cousins will turn 36 next August and an Achilles tendon injury will further complicate an already difficult situation.
“Every single player in our locker room thinks about our leader and our man,” O’Connell said. “I’m just so proud of him. Proud of how he played all season. Whatever the case, if we don’t have him for a moment or for the duration of our season, it won’t change the fact what level Kirk Cousins has played this year and what he ultimately means to me and ours Organization meant.”