John DeFilippo: Kirk Cousins has ‘played very, very well’ in Vikings’ OTAs

People forget that it isn’t an easy transition.

When a player changes teams, he doesn’t simply change uniform colors. That’s the point new Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo drove home about the club’s new quarterback, Kirk Cousins.

‘Any time there’s that much change in your life, there’s going to be an acclimation period’

In DeFilippo’s view, Cousins not only is adjusting well, but he’s also performing well on the field during OTAs.

“He’s done great,” DeFilippo told Zig Fracassi and Geoff Schwartz on NFL Rewind. “First off, whenever there’s change … we’re talking about Kirk Cousins, you were in another building for awhile. He has to get accustomed to a new house, to a new state, moving, he just had a child. So people forget that there’s all those factors as well on top of, obviously, learning new teammates, learning new coaches, learning a new offense. So any time there’s that much change in your life, there’s going to be an acclimation period and I think we saw a little bit of that.

‘He’s starting to really get a feel for the guys around him’

“But I’ll tell you, as OTAs have gone along, Kirk’s played very, very well and he’s starting to really get a feel for the guys around him. He’s starting to get a feel for the guys up front. The guys up front are starting to get a feel for him. I mean, cadence, that’s a big deal. When a new quarterbacks comes in and it’s a new cadence, a new offensive coordinator is calling a new cadence. Those are all things that take time to get on the same page. So I’ve been pleased with each day that you’ve seen us get better each day, in my opinion, and we’re going to continue to try do that each practice.”

DeFilippo stresses that he isn’t necessarily looking to dramatically overhaul the Vikings’ offense so much as do everything possible to help it maintain its effectiveness while seeking improvement.

‘I think we have really, really good players on this team’

“My job, as the offensive coordinator, is to continue the good things that Minnesota did here last season — and, obviously, there were a lot of good things that they did — and then build on that,” he said. “Obviously, our goal is to make the Super Bowl this year, and that’s everyone’s goal this time of year. I think we have really, really good players on this team. We have a great defense, we have a great head coach, great personnel department, so we’re just looking forward to getting better each day.”