The Vikings will have a transition to make on the field this year as they move forward without quarterback Kirk Cousins and they’ll also have to make one off the field.
Defensive tackle Harrison Phillips was more focused on the latter during a Wednesday appearance on NFL Network. Cousins served as a team captain in addition to his role leading the offense and Phillips said the team will have to adjust to his absence in that role as they move toward the fall.
The good news is that Phillips believes the Vikings — who also parted ways with captains Danielle Hunter and Jordan Hicks — have strength in numbers on the leadership front.
“There’s gonna be a huge loss,” Phillips said. “Kirk Cousins as a person, as a leader, as a teammate, that’s a big void in your locker room. One of the most humble guys that I’ve ever been around. Servant leader, just a great motivator. He’s great. To ask one person to fill that void is probably not probable. So what we’re going to do is have a great leadership team, which we’ve already seen. There’s already guys that I’ve seen these last few seasons being on this roster -- some are captains, some are not captains yet but will be in their careers -- and so we’re going to pass that torch off and kind of division of labor. We’re going to all carry that load together, and maybe we can be a better football team for it. Kirk’s obviously amazing. I’ve learned a lot from him and the leadership side of thing, and that’s an area I’m trying to step up and improve my game by working on those abilities.”
The leadership situation will be heavily impacted by the team’s ultimate choice at quarterback. First-round pick J.J. McCarthy scored well on the leadership front while guiding Michigan to a national title and multiple playoff appearances during his time as their starter, but he’ll need to win the job before he can step into that kind of role in Minnesota.
