After suffering a torn Achilles to end his 12th season in the NFL, four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins rearranged his day-to-day life around a meticulous and monotonous rehab schedule. That injury ended his tenure with the Minnesota Vikings, and he was determined to turn over a new leaf next season.
But when, earlier this summer, GQ sat with the new Atlanta Falcons quarterback on a lake in Western Michigan, he seemed excited to put that process behind him. We were onboard his Manitou pontoon boat—he's a company spokesman. And maybe it was the chill lake-life vibes, but if there is a level of stress that comes after signing a four-year, $180-million deal with a new team, under a new coaching staff, while working back to form from a major injury, it isn't present when Cousins is on the water. He told GQ about what he learned while working his way back to form and why he'll never be picky when it comes to “naughty foods.”
For Real-Life Diet, GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and other high performers about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.
GQ: How would you say the rehab process has impacted your typical offseason routine?
It's dramatically changed. I mean, I never thought I'd spend this much time on my on my lower right leg. Every day and multiple times a day, it's modalities for my Achilles to strengthen my calf and heal that area. That really is focus number one. There are certainly other things I need to do to take care of my shoulder to throw the football, plus eating, and sleeping right. There are all kinds of bodywork and football prep I can be doing, but number one is getting the Achilles healed and strong so that it is truly in the rearview mirror, and I can play as the same player I was before the injury.
Up until this, you had never missed a game in your career due to injury, which highlights how fortunate you’ve been and how well you take care of your body. With the Achilles taking up a majority of the focus, what is the balancing act to not short change what you’re doing for the rest of your body?
That's the challenge. All offseason, I've had to focus on the Achilles, but not to the detriment of getting the rest of myself ready for the season. That really has been a time burden of how do I find the extra time to do the Achilles when I already was so busy doing everything else. That's a bit of a dance. You've got to be adaptable as a pro athlete. Things are always getting thrown your way. We figured it out and managed it, but that has been a challenge this offseason.
That's where getting on a boat and being able to kind of check out is so valuable. You've got to really be structured because otherwise, you can watch your days get away from you. I wanted to make sure on this summer break that we take the time to rehab the Achilles, take the time to get ready for the season, but also take the time to recharge the batteries so that when I do go back for training camp, I am ready for a seven-month grind as opposed to running out of gas.
I believe each injury teaches you something about yourself. What would you say you learned in going through this process?
I've learned I'm not as patient as I thought I was. I think I've been taught it through this that there's some more patience to improve upon. As a guy who wants to fulfill his potential, I realized I need to become a more patient person. What I've learned is that when you are patient, you just may get there faster. You may get where you want to go faster simply because you're not forcing it and not spinning your wheels. In this process, I've had to learn to be deliberate, and intentional, have a plan but also understand that time has to play its course and you may get there faster in the end if you're just patient through the process.
Usually after an injury like that, you’re allowed to take some time to eat whatever you want. Was that the case for you?
That's a great question. I follow the 80-20 rule and there's always going to be that 20 percent. With weight, I kind of have a blessing and a curse as I don't really gain weight and can get away with eating poorly, which is bad because then I can be motivated to eat poorly since I know that I can kind of get away with it at least at this stage in my life. DoorDash has made it a lot easier to quickly order some what I call “naughty food” and have it arrive on your doorstep. I’ve got to be mindful of how often I do that but I'm like anybody else who tries to eat healthy but has their cheat days and I certainly have fun with those.
What are some of those naughty foods?
I really don't discriminate among fast foods. I’m good with it if it's Mexican, pizza, a chocolate shake, or if it's burgers—I'm down for whatever. Moving to Atlanta, there are some more Southeast-focused fast food spots. Certainly, there are more Chick-Fil-A's than there would be up north, but you've got your Cook Out’s and Bojangles—I'm a sucker for those. With burgers and pizza, it's hard for me to pass on those.
At this stage of your career, have you had to make any dietary adjustments?
The big change I've made in my diet at a very high level—just to be simple—is I've tried to remove grains. I've done some tests and blood work and while a lot of people are gluten-free I've found it's not just gluten for me, but I need to cut out grains. That includes rice, corn, and things that my body doesn't respond well to. With being grain-free, that has become a big focus. Even when I do have a burger, I'll peel the bun. I'll still hold the bun, but it is just to hold. I just eat everything else but the bun.
It ends up being a lot of salads, chicken, steak, fish, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. It pains my heart to cut out the grains. because they're in everything, and I love them just as much as the next guy. But, I have learned that the more I avoid them, the more I don't miss them. I find myself more now starting to gravitate towards grain-free things just because that's become the norm.
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Entering year 13, What still motivates you to put your body through the rigors of an NFL season?
I've asked myself that question. What do you want to still accomplish? Certainly a Super Bowl is the first thing that comes to mind. You want to be able to walk away from this game having made it to the highest level and getting a ring. I've always been someone who is somewhat obsessed with fulfilling potential and it drives me crazy if I or someone I know is not fulfilling their potential. I think that's really what it is at the end of the day and that is feeling like I've got more to go get simply because there's more to go get. I wouldn't have been fulfilling what I'm capable of and stewarding that which God's given me if I were to shut it down now or call it a career. It’s just like self-imposed pressure to be able to walk away from this game someday and say I left it all out there. I gave everything I had and I didn't cut the finish line short. I am walking across that finish line knowing I got nothing left and that's really where I want to be at the end.
What does your game-day routine consist of?
Regardless if it’s a noon or night game, I wake up early. I wish I could sleep in. I may roll over at 5 a.m. and once I realize it's the day of the game, there's no chance I'm going back to sleep. I usually lay there and try to stay in bed but I'll usually finally get up pretty early, shower, and get dressed in pretty comfortable clothes. I'm not wearing a suit and tie to too many games anymore. I’ll have some quiet time in my room. I like to go over my football notes and read my Bible a little bit, pray—just kind of center myself. I think that really helps me. I want to make sure when I leave my hotel room and go down to breakfast, and then to the bus that I feel a calm readiness for the game.
From there, you get on the bus and you hope it's a short ride to the game. I have about three hours until kickoff. The first hour is kind of just getting ready. It's warming up, putting on your stuff, and listening to music. Maybe you're going over a few more notes, asking a question to a coach and you're really just waiting and getting your body warm. Then you head out for the first warmups, which is about two hours before kickoff. That involves warming up your body and then throwing the football, and running routes with the receivers. When that ends, I go back inside and I got another 45 minutes to kill.
I always tell my teammates: That is the worst part of the week. I can't stand the sitting around before kickoff. I wish we could bus to the stadium and in 20 minutes kick-off. You’ll then go to the game field and have your full team warmups and that’s just clockwork. The strength coach blows the whistle and you're headed to the next thing. You head back inside the locker room, we say a quick team prayer and then we head out and get introduced and start the game. But, the amount of waiting, and true idle time—it's more than I'd like it to be. I've often tried to fill it by finding stuff to do just to not feel like I'm revving before the game starts.
Most PopularThe partnership with Manitou is such an organic one with your love for boating. What does that time on the water do for you?
Football is pretty stressful for me. It's a grind and the season is a grind. I look forward to the time in the summer before training camp as much as I look forward to any time all year—just the chance to be with family and spend quality time together. Manitou allows us to put 10 people on a boat, so we can get our extended family together and just get away from it all, be on the boat, nobody can bother us, there's privacy, and it's just great quality family time. We love the size of the boat, we love that it really is a speedboat in the sense that we can go almost 50 miles an hour. There are two engines—we just love it. The back deck is fun because the boys can jump off there like a diving board and we can spread out. This just really meets our needs as a family and I’m looking forward to a lot of summers together making memories.
We see player movement in sports so much that we tend to forget the human element of uprooting you and your family and having to start over somewhere else. How hectic of a process is that?
I don't love it. I would prefer for this to be my last stop, and I'm reminded of that with how much this amount of change has been in the last few months. it's funny you said what you said because that's that's really what it is. I'm a sports fan and I watch people change teams and I just shrug my shoulders thinking, now they're on that team. Now, living it again, you realize that this is no small deal and now I've got a wife and kids, but, we're getting adjusted. Honestly, more than selling your house, finding a house, moving all your things, and getting your boys onto school and all the off-the-field stuff, I think it’s really the on-the-field stuff that’s an adjustment also. It's meeting new coaches, learning a new system, and getting to know your teammates. Nobody's gonna give you a pass in the fall because you're new. You need to play like you've been there for a long time and I think that's really the challenge that I feel is making up for that lost time.
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