One-on-one with Vikings offensive tackle Brian O’Neill

KSTP Sports Director Joe Schmit chatted one-on-one with Vikings Pro Bowl offensive tackle Brian O’Neill about his growth over seven NFL seasons, his former high school teammate who’s currently a Minnesota Timberwolves player and how his family’s background in politics shaped him into a locker room leader.

Click the video box on this page to watch Joe Schmit’s one-on-one chat with Minnesota Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill

Kirk Cousins Breaks Silence With Clear Message on Benching After Vikings Exit

The Minnesota Vikings’ future at quarterback is bright, But their former starter, Kirk Cousins, is having an equally opposite experience this season. It is his first with the Atlanta Falcons, and there is no certainty that it will not be his last.

Cousins leads the league in interceptions with 16 through 15 weeks.

For that reason among others, the Falcons benched Cousins for rookie first-round pick Michael Penix.

“It’s pro football. There’s a standard that I have for myself, that the team has for me, that, unfortunately, I – I wasn’t playing up to that standard consistently enough. And so it is what it is,” Cousins told reporters on December 18. “You roll with it, and now you still get ready; one-play-away kind of a thing, and support Mike, and just try to help our team be able to find a way to win these last three [games] to get in the playoffs, and that’s what it’s all about so that’s that’s my focus.”

This is a stark turn from the positive vibe coming out of Atlanta when Cousins first arrived.

Cousins said that he called Penix after the decision and made a striking analogy to explain why he did so.

“I like to shoot elephants in the room, so I just wanted to shoot one,” Cousins said.

Notably, Cousins got his first starting job replacing Robert Griffin III in Washington, leading the league in completion percentage in his first full season as a starter.

Moreover, Cousins’ tenure with the Vikings ended in part because they wanted to draft his successor and would not meet his full contract demands. After Cousins missed half of the 2023 season with a torn Achilles, the Vikings stood firm in their position.

The change is an even more notable change given that Penix is a rookie.

Cousins, a four-time Pro Bowler, inked a four-year, $180 million contract with $90 million fully guaranteed in free agency during the 2024 offseason.

The Falcons would incur the second-largest single dead cap hit in NFL history if they cut Cousins this season. He spoke with an understanding of where things have gone wrong for him so far.

“It probably ultimately was the turnovers, and that’s such a key thing in winning and losing in the NFL,” Cousins said of head coach Raheem Morris’ explanation for the decision. “That’s probably more decision-making than anything. That wouldn’t have anything to do with my physical limitations. So I wouldn’t say [the poor play, and specifically turnovers, is health related].”