“Super-Dad” Kirk Cousins ​​​​Already Commands the Room in Atlanta

FLOWER BRANCH, Ga. — Kirk Cousins ​​​​has a mission this season. Winning games, yes. Bring a Super Bowl to Atlanta, of course. But first: he wants his new and very young teammates to appreciate his taste for cinema.

“I’m going to quote ‘Heavyweights’ with Ben Stiller, and it’s just crickets,” Cousins, 35, said, referring to a 29-year-old film. “I’m going to get laughed at across the locker room from (32) Jake Matthews because he knows the reference.”

Cousins ​​being Cousins, he’s already planning a watch party to introduce the rest of his new teammates. Additionally, in his true father form, he guessed a message from the weight loss camp comedy that is full of fat jokes and references to “Seymour Butts.”

“When Ben Stiller was referring to himself before he lost weight, he said, ‘I know you because I was you,'” Cousins ​​said. “I say that to so many teammates, so many times. When I see them doing something stupid, I say, “I know you because I was you.” »

It feels like if Cousins ​​could tell all the Falcons kids to get in the minivan and drive them straight to the Super Bowl, well, he’d do it in two flicks of a lamb’s tail.

As “offseason” workouts wrap up for the Falcons and the first year of the franchise’s reboot begins to take shape, several elements of this new era become clear:

• There’s a clear, set-in-stone pecking order between Cousins, the nine-figure free agent signee, and Michael Penix Jr., the No. 8 overall pick, and everyone buys into it;

• New head coach Raheem Morris establishes an atmosphere of trust but verification, letting individual units and players develop at their own pace, with course corrections as necessary; And

• Cousins ​​brings his brand of intense sports dad energy to Atlanta, and the team is all-in.

This is the time in the offseason when everyone is playing the same familiar notes. The coaches insist that every player is a future All-Pro on a team that is a well-functioning engine of destruction. The media emphasizes the same key points: Atlanta drafted a franchise quarterback right after signing a franchise quarterback; the Falcons have the longest playoff drought outside of the Broncos and Jets. The players love their teammates and are hopeful for the upcoming season. Fans just want to see football. And boy, Kirk Cousins ​​couldn’t be happier.

“I’ve always tried to ask questions,” Cousins ​​said in response to a question from Yahoo Sports about the generation gap. “So I think if I ask questions, I’m going to learn a lot about people, about my teammates. That’s always kind of been my strategy. I don’t feel too much of a gap because they’re great guys and they make things fun.

Granted, there’s only so much you can learn about a team — whether you’re a coach, player, analyst or fan — in June. Players spend time in class and complete drills. Quarterback passes sometimes end up sailing deep and sometimes end up fitting into narrow, disappearing windows. (You know, when a quarterback has found his mark; both sidelines will erupt in cheers.)

Cousins, wearing a red number. 18, is clearly having fun, navigating the first-team offense, theatrically raising his elbows like a walker as the offense advances down the field and – as Morris notes – keeping things light in the huddle, punctuating the game calls with dad – jokes like “There’s a lot of football players there, boys!” »

“When I come into the group, I try to make sure that it’s not just talk, that you communicate well, that there’s a certain presence there and that you have charisma,” Cousins ​​said. “My humor tends to be quite dry, so if you’re not focused you might not understand it.”

“It’s kind of fun to watch,” Morris said. “It always makes you smile when you’re out there watching it.” … He’s a lot of fun to be around.”

“He commands the room, gets everyone’s attention. That’s what you need,” tight end Kyle Pitts said. “He can joke when he wants, but he’s serious when he has to be.” Pitts referred to Cousins ​​as “Superdad,” which might be Kirk’s most perfect nickname yet.

Bijan Robinson, who has a locker next to Cousins, gets a reminder every now and then of how big their age gap is. “I think Kirk is old enough to be my dad,” Robinson, 22, joked. “But I like this guy, man. We always joke with him. I always joke with him, and he takes it so well and so easily.

“Honestly, it’s a blessing,” Cousins ​​said. “I hope one day this gap will be even bigger because it means I’m still playing and I’m still connected.”

And then – because he’s a dad and he just can’t help it – Cousins ​​found a way to turn the generation gap into a teaching moment for himself: “ It probably makes me a better parent to my boys. »

The OTAs end this week, then the strikes begin. But before that, Cousins ​​has a few items to check off the old bucket list.

“We’re going to Texas Roadhouse (Tuesday),” Cousins ​​said. “That’s our thing, checking out these chain restaurants. RIP Red Lobster.”

Take the crew to a chain restaurant. Could there be a more papal activity than this? The Falcons may or may not be a great football team, but they already feel like family.