Kirk Cousins sent an open invitation this offseason to Scott Kuhn, the Vikings' pro scout who has the title of Director of Analytics.
The Vikings quarterback wanted to know if there was a trend — data about his fumbles, performances in prime-time games or effectiveness off play-action passes.
Over Memorial Day weekend, Kuhn sent him a summary that spit out a simple answer for why Cousins' quarterback rating spiked last season from a 99.7 on average to 116.1 on play-action throws.
"Play action is just effective, period," said Cousins, ranked 28th in play-action ratings last season. "You got to call it more."
That's what Vikings coordinator Kevin Stefanski has done this spring, including Wednesday's practice that was the second of a three-day minicamp ending the offseason program.
At least every other Cousins pass started from under center, with the ball extended to a running back before a rollout throw. Head coach Mike Zimmer wants to run the ball, and the offensive coaching staff is meshing a balanced attack not dissimilar to what Cousins learned during his seasons in Washington under Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan.
It's how the Vikings want to respond to the latest narrative — finding "the next level" for their $84 million quarterback. Not necessarily by throwing for more yardage or touchdowns, Cousins said.
"The next level is all about winning," Cousins said. "I'm pretty much a .500 quarterback in my career so far and I don't think that's where you want to be. That's not why you are brought in or people are excited about you."