Vikings players all wore custom Kirk Cousins t-shirts to show love in their first game without him

Kirk Cousins’ Vikings teammates miss him so much.

There’s no need to sugarcoat a dire reality. After Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles, the Minnesota Vikings season will, in all likelihood, end with disappointment and a faint whimper. But his Vikings teammates are professionals, and they’re not just going to give up on 2023. With over half of the year’s slate remaining, that would be silly.

If anything, it appears the Vikings are going to use Cousins’ absence as motivation.

Before Minnesota’s matchup with the Atlanta Falcons, a bunch of Vikings players wore some noticeably curious attire — custom shirts featuring Cousins in various throwing motions. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this was their way of showing love to the veteran signal-caller after his unfortunate injury:

Even an injured Justin Jefferson on the sideline had to get in on the fun:

Honestly, that is so cool.

It would’ve been easy for the Vikings to forget what Cousins brings to the table and center on maximizing their campaign without him. Instead, they wanted to show they were still thinking about him. That is special and might show an older Cousins — who is an unrestricted free agent this winter — isn’t quite done in Minnesota just yet.