Vikings' Kevin O'Connell wants Kirk Cousins 'to feel as involved as he's ever been in an offense'

All offseason, the discussion surrounding Minnesota has been how the "Kevin O'Connell offense" will bring freshness and explosiveness to the Vikings. 

But the Vikings' new coach really wants the scheme to be Kirk Cousins' offense.

Joining Adam Schein on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio on Wednesday, O'Connell, who spent two seasons as the quarterbacks coach with Cousins in Washington, said ensuring the signal-caller has ownership of the offense is key to any success in Minnesota in 2022.

"Having the previous relationship with him, building that rapport with him has -- I don't want to say it will -- it has served us very well early on," O'Connell told Schein. "I feel like we've got a constant dialogue between him and I, you know, we meet a lot about what we're doing offensively, obviously his role in it, but also just big picture. I want him to feel as involved as he's ever been in an offense and how we build it and how we're going to try to attack opponents and I think that's very, very important. If him and I are on the same page he can be an extension of me and vice versa, I can be an extension of him to our football team in a lot of ways that only enhance his ability to just authentically be himself, lead us and then just go play, because he's a talented guy, man."

O'Connell's willingness to listen to Cousins and design or change things based on the QB's comfort level is how good coaches should operate. But it's not always how things go, with some insisting on installing their scheme and sometimes fitting square pegs into round holes.

Coming from Sean McVay's staff, it's not surprising that O'Connell wants his QB to own the offense. We saw how that worked out with Matthew Stafford and the Rams last season. Is it so wild to think that Cousins could have a similar sort of leap with a staff that leans into his upside?

O'Connell is keenly aware that the ultimate judge of his offense, his QB, and his team will be the win-loss record.

"Ultimately, I think we're building an offense that hopefully can not only put Kirk in a great position to have success in those moments, but our entire group out there in the huddle with him," the coach said. "I feel like we're off to a great start, but ultimately, Sundays are what matter and we've got to take all this preparation and positive momentum that we have and go do it."

NFL+ gives you the freedom to watch LIVE out-of-market preseason games, LIVE local and prime-time regular-season and postseason games on your phone or tablet, the best NFL programming on-demand and more! Wherever you are, this is how you football! Learn more about NFL+.