Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins offered an honest perspective on Thursday regarding his take on being overlooked by teammate Justin Jefferson on his list of the top-five quarterbacks in the NFL.
A clip of the star receiver from a recent trip to Brazil as an NFL ambassador went viral earlier this month after Jefferson tabbed, in order, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen as the game’s best QBs.
During an appearance on KFAN-FM 100.3’s The Power Trip, Cousins was asked if it bothered him that he was excluded from Jefferson’s list. After initially saying he was unaware of the ranking, the 34-year-old graciously accepted the opinion before looking toward the pair’s future.
“I didn’t even see it so, this is the first time hearing about it,” Cousins said with a laugh. “As a competitor, yeah, you’d always want [to be included] but people have to be honest and share what they think and I’m not going to tell somebody what they need to think. And hopefully, in 2024, I’ll be on his list, you know? We’ll see what we can do this year.”
While Cousins’ response indicated there’s no hard feelings between him and Jefferson, the four-time Pro Bowler also understandably made it clear he would prefer to make the cut in the future.
Of course, the only thing that’ll matter in the long run for Cousins and Jefferson, the 2022 Offensive Player of the Year, will be how the Vikings bounce back from a 13–4 2022 season that ended in the Wild Card round. Even though, Jefferson’s curious omission of his QB is sure to be a clip not soon forgotten by fans given the criticism Cousins has faced in his career.