Kirk Cousins’ season is over.
The Minnesota Vikings quarterback walked off the field in the Vikings’ 24-10 loss against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon. Head coach Kevin O’Connell said after the game that they “Fear of Achilles injury,” which is expected to be confirmed by MRI soon. That will end Cousins’ season.
Cousins at Lambeau Field early in the fourth quarter began to fumble in the pocket when he pulled on the glove and fell to the ground. Cousins was tackled by defensive end Kenny Clark, which led to a fourth down. As soon as the cousins appeared, he started jumping sideways without putting weight on his right leg.
Cousins made his way to the bench, but was then forced off the field with his right shoe removed. He was pulled from the game and replaced by freshman Jaren Hall.
Cousins went 23-of-31 for 274 yards with two touchdowns before he went down and led the Vikings to a 24-10 lead. Cam Akers ran for a 6-yard touchdown to put the Vikings on the board in the first quarter, then Cousins found TJ Hockenson and Jordan Addison for touchdowns in the third quarter. KJ Osborne had 99 receiving yards on eight catches and Hockenson had 88 yards on six grabs.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love was 24-for-41 for 229 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the loss, which dropped Green Bay to 2-5. His TD came on a 1-yard toss to Romeo Tubbs. Love was also the Packers’ leading rusher with 34 yards on four carries.
Assuming the injury is confirmed and his season over, Cousins would have finished the year with 2,057 yards and 16 touchdowns along with five interceptions. The 35-year-old is in his sixth season with the Vikings and has never missed an NFL game due to injury, although he missed one in 2021 due to a positive Covid-19 test.
With Cousins now down, Hall could take his place in the immediate future. Hall, taken by the Vikings in the fifth round out of BYU earlier this year, went 3-for-4 for 23 yards in the win Sunday.
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Several starting QBs were injured in the early Sunday flurry
The early wave of games on Sunday was tough for quarterbacks across the league. Cousins was one of five starting QBs to go down Sunday afternoon with a serious injury.
Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback Desmond Ridder suffered a concussion in a 28-23 loss to the Tennessee Titans. He was replaced by Taylor Heinicke, who finished the game in Nashville.
Matthew Stafford left the Los Angeles Rams’ 43-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys with a thumb injury after a throw caught in the helmet of a Cowboys defender. He was replaced by Brett Rybien.
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New York Giants backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor was taken to the hospital in a 13-10 overtime loss to the New York Jets after suffering a broken rib on a bad tackle. He started in place of Daniel Jones, who was still out with a neck injury. That leaves the Giants with third-string quarterback Tommy DeVito. The Giants combined for 7 passing yards. The Jets forced overtime with a 35-yard field goal at MetLife Stadium.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett left the 20-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars with a rib injury. Pickett took a shot after throwing an incomplete pass and hit the turf hard to his right. He was replaced by Mitchell Trubisky in the second half.
