Though he was in Nevada at the Von Miller Pass Rush Summit, New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan somehow managed to hit Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Speaking recently at the summit to a band of fellow pass rushers, Jordan commended quick action on the field over slow and cautionary thinking. In doing so, he quipped about Cousins' decision-making quickness or lack thereof.
"You see a little, you see a lot, and you see a lot, you see a little," Jordan said. "If you're so focused on 'what's next, oh where's his hand,' if it's 'where does he like to throw these hands,' you're so worried about all these other factors you're slowing yourself down thinking.
"In this game, everybody knows a fast, wrong decision could be a right decision. And a fast, right decision, you're a winner. And a slow, right decision, get your ass on the bench. Because there's somebody out here who's going to be moving at a different speed. Slow, right decisions, we love 'em, call 'em 'Kirk Cousins.'"
Tossing in the reference just as casually as he would toss aside an overmatched offensive lineman, Jordan elicited a round of laughs from his burly brethren.
Cousins, whose résumé boasts four Pro Bowls and impressive individual statistics, has often been lamented for his caution in the crunch and for checking down over stepping up -- or so the narrative goes. Jordan clearly agrees. And disagrees it would seem with the notion of playing it safe or playing it slow rather than going full speed and banking on the successes outweighing the failures.
While it remains to be seen if making a Kirk Cousins catches on, the always loquacious Jordan didn't confine his cracks to the QB, as he also took some shots at offensive linemen as a whole.
"I stopped watching the offensive line individual tapes years ago," Jordan said. "Stopped. I watch my tape. I don't care anymore. If my technique is crispy, if the grill is hot, we gon' barbeque. People are like 'Oh, that offensive lineman got you,' I don't know his name, good for him. I'm looking at me; if I'm not right then I'm not gon' to get right.
"In the NFL there's elite talent everywhere, so why do I care about their names? I can whoop whoever's at Tampa Bay 25 times, but you've got Tom Brady there throwing it at 2.2 [seconds], you rarely get there. You can beat the hell out of whatever offensive lineman, tackle, that's over at the Ravens, you got Lamar [Jackson] handling business. I missed him twice, he ducked under, and my s--- was, I hit the turf, felt like I played myself. I got up and tried to chase after him like I was gon' get there, you're not. But at the end of the day, offensive linemen are just like that. They're just road blocks. They get hella money and I'm still not sure why."
With eight Pro Bowls and 115.5 sacks in his career, Jordan has most certainly walked the walk in his 12 years in New Orleans and he's proven once more he's not shy about talking the talk.
