Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins has continued to progress in his recovery from a torn Achilles, as he’s been taking reps during Atlanta’s OTA practices over the last few weeks.
During his Monday press conference, Cousins said that being able to get in some snaps during this time of the year has been one of the most positive things for him.
“{W]hen I first did it [suffered the injury], and I was in Minnesota the second half of last season, the conversation was, what will OTAs look like? And the answer I got back was, we won’t put you in the practice reps, it’s just not worth it,” Cousins said. “If it’s a walk-through, maybe, but the practice reps, you don’t need to be in there. I was planning on basically getting my first practice rep late July.
“I feel that I’ve gotten every rep there was to get in these OTAs, and I think that’s been a huge win for … building that continuity that we talk about.”
Cousins, who turns 36 in August, is still not quite 100 percent, as he said that he’d like to get to a point sooner than later where he’s comfortable truly going full speed.
“I mean, I want it to be today. But you’ve just got to let your body tell you when,” Cousins said. “I’ll be able to feel that, OK, the strength is there fully or I’m not feeling anything in the ankle or Achilles. You just kind of let your body tell you.
“What I’ve learned is what you can’t do is ignore what your body tells you. I’ll tough it out. I’ll grind it out. And that’s the surest way to make sure it doesn’t heal as fast as possible. You just try to listen to your body.”
The quarterback added that there have been instances this spring where he’s had to hold himself back, which he sees as a positive.
“I think there have been moments like that at practice when your adrenaline gets going and you do maybe take off to run. And they’re like, you don’t need to do that right now. It’s OTAs,” Cousins said. “So that happens from time to time. But it’s a good problem if that’s happening.”
At this rate, Cousins should be ready for training camp and potentially could play in a preseason game. But Cousins isn’t thinking too much about that now.
“It feels like a long ways away,” Cousins said. “But I think it’s always a great test to evaluate where we are as an offense, as a system. I would love to get in and play if we can. We’ll have to see as we get there where we are. But, you know, it would be great to get out there and kind of have that full dress rehearsal.”
