The 2023 season ended prematurely for Kirk Cousins due to a torn Achilles tendon. Now he talks emotionally about the moment

When Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles tendon in a game against the Green Bay Packers on October 29 of last year, the disappointment was great.

On the one hand, because the quarterback’s season was over. And secondly, because the Minnesota Vikings were in the process of making up for their botched start to the season.

Before the game against the Packers, the Vikings had three wins in four games – including one against the San Francisco 49ers.

“We were in really good shape at the time,” Cousins told the NFL. “It wasn’t just us as an offense that delivered. The defense was doing a great job, too.”

But the injury to the signal caller hit Minnesota hard. Although they went on to win three more games against the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders, the rest of the games were lost. In the end, the team finished 7-9 and failed to make the playoffs.

And Cousins? The quarterback thought it wasn’t that serious at the time of the injury. Audio of the playmaker during the game against Green Bay shows that

At the time, Cousins was “mic’d up”, i.e. equipped with a microphone on his equipment, the recordings of which have now been released to the public.

The footage shows the Vikings jumping out to a 24-3 lead with Cousins cheering them on. “It felt good. We played exactly the way we wanted to,” explained Cousins.

But a scary moment followed in the fourth quarter. Shortly after the snap, Cousins suffered the injury when he lunged. He limped off the field.

Cousins: “Didn’t feel that bad “

“At the moment of the initial pain, I didn’t think it was serious,” Cousins said. “It felt like someone stepped on my heel afterward.”

As he hobbled off the field, he refused help from others and told the coaches his ankle hurt. This can be heard over the microphone.

“I assumed it was a sprained ankle and figured it was going to be a tough month of recovery”. But Cousins was soon to be proven wrong by the Vikings doctors.

“I told myself, ‘I’ll be fine. I’m a pocket passer,” Cousins said. “But I didn’t think I tore anything and the season was over. “

Cousins: “Doctors knew right away “

“I don’t know, it hurts in the back,” Cousins said when one of the doctors asked him if it hurt on the inside or outside. “At that moment I was just in denial about the injury, I didn’t want to admit it,” Cousins later explained.

“I wanted to run, but my foot was like it was anchored. Like someone was standing on it. I tried to put weight on it, but nothing came,” he told the doctors.

But the caregivers and doctors probably knew straight away. “Everything I told the doctors applied to a torn Achilles tendon. They’ve heard these statements hundreds of times. They had me examined directly in the blue tent.”

Cousins is now looking forward to his comeback in the upcoming season