Cousins on Building Chemistry with Bradbury, Learning New Vikings Offense

[Viktor]

Cousins pointed out that, counting last offseason, he took snaps from “probably four centers” – and five, if you count guard Danny Isidora briefly sliding to center during the preseason.


He called the situation “less than ideal” and is hopeful that Bradbury will be a consistent anchor on the line.


“I [told Garrett], ‘I’d like to have you and I work together for about the next decade, if that’s OK with you,’ ” Cousins said. “So, we’ll see what happens, but that would be my goal and, I think, the organization’s goal. I just tried to set that vision for him to say, ‘You be the guy here for the next 10 years, and let’s not have to worry about having anybody else snap for the quarterback.’


“He’s got a long ways to go to do that, but he’s got all the right stuff, and we’ll just keep stacking days on top of one another to get him where he needs to be.”


Cousins realizes the value of getting to know Bradbury outside the parameters of a football field.


He mentioned interactions that he and the rookie have together off the field, including conversations in the cafeteria.


“You sit around at the breakfast table, and you just get to know him as a person and understand he has his head on straight,” Cousins said. “That’s a good place to start. That is what all those meetings are about at the [NFL Scouting] Combine, the Senior Bowl, and those kinds of things to get to know players as people.


“Because ultimately to win, you have to have good people,” Cousins added. “If you are a great athlete but not a great person, eventually it is going to catch up with you. I think they’ve done a good job of bringing good people into our locker room. Garrett is certainly a great person, so he is made of all the right stuff.”


Cousins is looking forward to seeing Bradbury progress at practices and, eventually, get a chance to go against Vikings nose tackle Linval Joseph. Joseph was present at both OTA practices but did not take reps during team drills.


“I joked with [Garrett] today, I said, ‘You see Darth Vader over there? You are going to have to block him. You ready?’ ” Cousins laughed. “I think it’s been to our advantage Linval has taken a couple days off here, but when he gets back, it’s for real. That is the challenge, just getting caught up to speed with blocking the best in the world.”