One of the last two NFL games of the 2019 season will be played this Sunday as the AFC and NFC will duke it out for the 2020 Pro Bowl. One player who fans will get to see take the field in the process is Kirk Cousins, a former quarterback of new Jags offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.
Earlier this week during practice, Jaguars reporter Ashlyn Sullivan was able to talk to Cousins about Gruden, who had nothing but praise for his old head coach from his time with the Washington Redskins.
"He will do a great job with that team, with that system."@KirkCousins8 shares his thoughts on the hiring of OC Jay Gruden ⤵ pic.twitter.com/TPSGgtav9h
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) January 23, 2020
“It was a great hire. I don’t think they could’ve done any better than coach Gruden,” Cousins said on Thursday. “So experienced, he’s had so much production in calling plays with a variety of different players in a variety of different places. So he will do a great job with that team, with that system, and I think everybody is in a good place hiring him.”
Cousins words definitely should mean something to Jags fans because, after all, he is playing in the Pro Bowl and has had postseason success, too. This postseason, the Minnesota Vikings and Cousins pulled off a huge upset against the New Orleans Saints to open up the postseason. Simply put, wouldn’t have been possible without Cousins’ experience while with Gruden and the Redskins.
“When he came in I was a nobody in this league. I couldn’t even spell Pro Bowl,” Cousins added. “And so I look at his development with me and the work he did through 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. I was with him for four years. I owe him him a great deal for my progression and my development as a player, and he knows that. I expect him to do the same with a lot of those young players in Jacksonville.”
Now, Gruden will be tasked with coaching up another young quarterback in Gardner Minshew II (and a veteran in Nick Foles), who flashed as a rookie by winning six games but is far from a finished product. With Gruden’s west coast scheme allowing Minshew to make quick decisions, it could be move that helps the team tremendously as the Jags need a spark offensively after finishing 26th in points and 20th in yards.