Kirk Cousins did not play like a $19 million quarterback in Week 1.
The Washington Redskins passer was hesitant and off target in the loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played like a young quarterback unsure, unconfident and easily confused. Despite the Steelers often playing simple zones, Cousins was reluctant to pull the trigger, didn't run when he had the opportunity and couldn't fit the ball into tight windows.
After Jay Gruden called his quarterback a work in progress this week, Cousins agreed with that assessment and recalled a conversation he had with future Hall of Famer Tom Brady.
"I think I'll always be," Cousins said Wednesday, via the Washington Post. "I don't think that Year 16, if you're fortunate enough to play that long, I don't think you feel like you've had it figured out. When I asked Tom Brady after the game last year, 'When did it click for you?' In a sense, I asked him, 'When were you no longer a work in progress?' His answer was what I would echo here, and that it's still clicking. You've never figured it out. You've never arrived. The minute you think you have is probably when you're going to be gone. I'm going to keep working, keep going, and I understand that. I think I'll always view myself as a work in progress, and I think that's how other people can view it too."
There is a lot to improve upon for Cousins after Week 1 as the Redskins passer prepares to take on the Dallas Cowboys. Cousins was 30 for 43 passing for 329 yards and two interceptions. A lot of those yards were hollow, garbage-time stats. The more telling numbers are Washington's 3 of 10 conversion rate on third down, 0 of 2 on fourth down and one touchdown on four red-zone possessions.
The Redskins stance on Cousins all offseason has been that they want to see him replicate his play from 2015 before investing long-term money. Week 1 did nothing to put more money in Cousins' bank account.
