Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and quarterback Kirk Cousins spoke with the local media at the TCO Performance Center on Wednesday. Both are preparing for Sunday's regular-season opener against the visiting San Francisco 49ers.
For Cousins, it is his second season in a row going against 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Cousins and the Washington Redskins beat the 49ers 26-24 during a Week 6 contest last season. Now, he will try to do it again as the quarterback of the Vikings.
Cousins knows he owes a lot to Shanahan, who pushed to draft Cousins when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Washington.
"I could be here a long time talking about how Kyle developed me as a player," Cousins said. "I don't know that my answer could do it justice. He certainly had a big role in my going to Washington, and my development as a player, and much of the way that I play the position to this day as a result to the way that he taught me as a young player."
Cousins admits that Shanahan probably knows him very well. So well in fact that Shanahan's long-term plan was to eventually be reunited with Cousins in San Francisco. Does knowing a player that well give a head coach a significant advantage when going against him?
"I think he certainly has some familiarity, and that can help," Cousins said. "But, at the same time, I've thought about this before with other situations. I've gone against this defensive scheme so many times. It doesn't make you feel like you've got it all figured out.
"If knowing certain players or certain coaches is the difference maker, then you wouldn't see some of these guys have success so much when their coaches leave.
"I'm sure you tell your team some level of personnel ability, and background, and where they're coming from, and the way they play the game, but at the end of the day, you've just got to go out and play."
At one point, Cousins seemed destined to end up in San Francisco with Shanahan. It was quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, however, who ended up becoming the face of the franchise. Cousins was asked about the 49ers quarterback, who he hasn't watched a lot of film on.
"I think the record and the production speaks for itself," Cousins said. "He's earned where he is right now, and I think he'll be a great challenge for us on Sunday. Anytime you can win the amount of games that he's won, help lead a team like that — certainly, the Patriots loved him, he was a high pick — anytime you can be all those things, you do everything well.
"It's hard to single anything out. I think he's one of those guys who is who you're looking for in a quarterback for your team and when you get one, you want to make sure you keep him."
It's no secret that the 49ers lack an elite pass rusher on the edge. Cousins and Zimmer don't necessarily see that as a positive going into Sunday's game.
"Certainly, going against a Von Miller can be very tough, but if he was the only guy you were concerned about, you can scheme things to make him double-teamed and make his life tough," Cousins said. "When you have a whole defensive line with a lot of depth, which many of the defenses with this scheme have, it makes it tough because you're in one-on-one with somebody who's a very good pass rusher. You've just got to hold on the best you can."
One player along that defensive front who is on the cusp of becoming an elite NFL defender is DeForest Buckner. The Vikings head coach knows the 49ers defensive lineman is someone they will have to keep an eye on during Sunday's game.
"He's really good," Zimmer said of Buckner. "He's a guy who we're going to have to know where he's at all the time. We'll have to pay special attention to him. He's a very, very good player. All of their defensive line is really good, but he's really good."
Zimmer also shared why the 49ers defense as a whole is so tough to scheme against.
"They do a really good job in coverage," he said. "They're a defense that makes you be patient offensively. They're tough to run against because they've got eight guys in the box typically all the time. And then, coverage-wise, they make it difficult to throw the ball vertically down the field."
Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin had a breakout season with the 49ers last year. His 962 reception yards were more than his first four seasons combined with the Buffalo Bills. Zimmer discussed his familiarity with Goodwin and what he means for San Francisco's offense.
"I actually watched him work out (in 2013)," he said. "I was down working out a safety in Texas, and I watched him work out, and I came back and I said, 'Man, this guy is really fast.' He catches the ball good, and he caught a touchdown pass against us when I was in Cincinnati, I believe, in Buffalo.
"He's got such great speed, and that's always been there, but now he's become more of an all-purpose receiver. He goes over the middle. He catches underneath balls. He's improved a lot."
