Sometimes you can tell more about an interview subject from how they say things than from what is actually said.
Five takeaways from a conversation with Vikings WR Jordan Addison
Jordan Addison had 70 catches and 10 touchdowns in a successful rookie season. But he’s clearly hungry for more — and certainly has an opinion about quarterback Kirk Cousins.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 8, 2024 at 6:00PM
With Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison, you get both.
The substance of his words carries meaning; so, too, does the delivery. Maybe that’s just a natural offshoot of the way he plays: bigger than his 170-pound frame would suggest, with both steadiness and flair in his game.
During a recent conversation for the Daily Delivery podcast, Addison had plenty to say while also leaving some things unsaid.
Here are my five biggest takeaways after talking with him:
- Addison is very much a fan of Kirk Cousins. Seven of Addison’s 10 touchdown catches as a rookie came from Cousins, even though Cousins was hurt for more than half the season. We started talking about the Super Bowl, and I was lauding Patrick Mahomes as the best QB on the planet. Addison interrupted to say, “That’s because they ain’t played with Kirk.” I circled back to that a little later, asking him how good he thinks Cousins is. Said Addison: “Kirk is great. He’s better than good. Kirk is great. Watch the film. Turn on the film and watch without a perspective. Take all that other stuff away and just watch him. He’s like that.”
- So does that mean Addison will lobby the Vikings to keep Cousins — a free agent next month — as it seemed Justin Jefferson was toward the end of the regular season? “I’m going to call him when we get off here,” Addison said. I asked if he meant Cousins or Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, and he laughed. Cousins, obviously. He doesn’t have a direct line to lobby the GM? “I ain’t got that yet,” he said, laughing again. What will the Vikings do during a very interesting draft, and how much is Addison paying attention? “Hmm. I’m curious, too,” he said.
- We all watched a very strange Vikings season. Four different quarterbacks started games. They started out ice cold, got red hot, and plummeted at the end. What did it feel like to go through it? “I’ll say looking back at it now it was kind of a wild ride. ... When I was in the moment, it was just like ‘we gotta just work, we gotta do what we can do.’ But looking back on it now, it was a wild ride for sure.”
- Addison was critical of his own play late in the season. He revisited that idea of not being satisfied. “When I had said that I was really frustrated with how I was playing because I felt like I could have been doing more,” he said. “It was a couple of opportunities throughout games where I’d miss the ball. You never know how it (would have) ended up. Basically just making sure that I take every opportunity and make the most of it.”
- It has been suggested to Addison that he could gain 10 pounds on his 170-pound frame, but he likes being lean and playing big. “You just can’t be scared. I feel like if you’re bringing it, too, it ain’t going to be so bad,” he said. “I’ve just got to. That’s just how I play. I’ve always been the smallest dude.”
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