Lions fans cheer during the Lions' 34-23 win over the Vikings. © Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK.
Back in time for the Super Bowl.
Julie Cousins hopes her husband Kirk could effectuate that wish, albeit an extreme longshot.
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins talked with ESPN’s Adam Schefter this week, and among the keynote topics was his injury recovery. Cousins tore his Achilles tendon at Lambeau Field on October 29th and isn’t scheduled to return in 2023.
But don’t tell Mrs. Cousins that.
“My wife’s holding out hope that somehow, if Aaron can get back fast and then you add eight weeks — I’d be right there at the Super Bowl. Who knows? We’ll see. This league’s crazy,” Cousins told Schefter this week about his recovery compared to Aaron Rodgers’.
For the Vikings to reach the Super Bowl — a ghost of a chance at the moment, considering the team’s 7-7 record — veteran gunslinger quarterback Nick Mullens would have to play out of his mind henceforth. After auditioning Jaren Hall and Joshua Dobbs as Cousins’ replacements, the Vikings landed on Mullens as the stand-in QB1. Minnesota has the defense for a nifty playoff push, ranking seventh-best leaguewide after 14 games per EPA/Play, but the quarterback spot is iffy. At least per reaching the Super Bowl.
Cousins continued, “Aaron’s injury was about eight weeks ahead of mine. That’s essentially two months. And for him to come back — let’s say he does come back — you basically need to add eight weeks to that for when I could come back. When you do that math, you end up past the Super Bowl.”
Rodgers fell injured with the same injury on September 11th, the season’s first Monday Night Football game. Since that sad turn of events, Rodgers has flirted with defying conventional medicine and returning to the New York Jets this season. However, with the rubber hitting the road, Rodgers appeared to shy away from a comeback on Tuesday.
“I said to my wife because she said, ‘Do you think you could play in the Super Bowl?’ I said, ‘Well, if they make it to the Super Bowl without me, they’re probably not going to want to play me in that game,'” Cousins concluded with a smirk while chatting with Schefter.
The Vikings have +15,000 odds of winning the Super Bowl, about 17th-highest in the NFL. Per winning a chip, oddsmakers rank Minnesota among teams like the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That probability is Vegas’ way of saying “not happening.”
But in the off-chance Minnesota barnstorms the league in the next six weeks, Julie Cousins won’t rule out her husband’s return for the championship.
The Vikings host the Detroit Lions on Christmas Eve and are forecasted by sportsbooks to lose by a field goal.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.