Mike Zimmer: Kirk Cousins ‘just being nice’ to Adam Thielen with apology

The Minnesota Vikings are off to a subpar start to the season having split their first four games. These struggles have hit head after Sunday’s 16-6 loss to the Chicago Bears, where their offense struggled mightily.

This led star wide receiver Adam Thielen to voice his frustrations with the passing game to which Kirk Cousins responded with a public apology to him. In light of that, head coach Mike Zimmer has stated that he wasn’t much of a fan of the comments from Cousins. (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk)

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“He was probably just being nice,” Zimmer said regarding the apology, via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “Seriously, I’m not worried about it. Maybe he should get off the podcast.”

This was a situation that could have simply been handled behind closed doors, but both players decided to conduct it through the media. It has brought more attention to the matter that the Vikings certainly didn’t want it hovering around the team.

However, there is much truth to what Thielen voiced as the Vikings have struggled to throw the ball this season. Cousins has been more of a liable on the field than an asset due to the lack of significant impact in the passing game.

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Minnesota has been a run-first team with Dalvin Cook continuing his breakout campaign, but not much outside of that. These comments could serve as a tipping point for change with the team’s offensive game plan to balance things out. If they hope to contend for the playoffs, this is a much-needed change.