10
Loading video...
By Ellis Williams
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan congratulated quarterback Kirk Cousins on his return to the Minnesota Vikings. He also joked that Cousins should take a week off when the Vikings play the 49ers.
Cousins has not had his bye week yet, and the trade means he will miss it altogether. Shanahan saw an opportunity.
“I texted Kirk congrats,” Shanahan said during his Wednesday news conference, “and reminded him he hasn’t had a Bye Week this year and he’s not going to get one, so maybe he should take that week.”
Read More on NFL
The joke drew laughter. Shanahan was discussing the possibility of facing Cousins twice in one season with two different teams.
Minnesota acquired Cousins from the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday, sending a 2027 third-round draft pick in the deal. He returns to the franchise he played for from 2018 through 2023, before spending two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and joining Las Vegas this year.
A Familiar Quarterback, Another Uniform
The Vikings are scheduled to face San Francisco in Mexico City on Nov. 22. That gives Shanahan another potential meeting with Cousins following the quarterback’s move out of Las Vegas.
Shanahan could not recall another season in which he faced the same quarterback on two different teams.
The schedule quirk was not limited to Cousins. Shanahan also pointed to newly acquired 49ers wide receiver Keenan Allen, who faces the same opponent in consecutive weeks and likewise loses his bye after changing teams.
Allen is learning a new offense on top of losing his break. Shanahan said the receiver arrived late Tuesday night and went straight into two hours of installation the next day before the team’s walkthrough.
Shanahan Knows the Cost of a Lost Bye
Shanahan recalled that former 49ers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders missed his bye when he joined San Francisco. The coach described that stretch as a grind and said he could not imagine missing the break himself.
“We’ll give him that after our Thursday night game versus the Chargers,” Shanahan said of Allen. “Give him a nice three-day Bye Week.”
San Francisco has its own demanding travel stretch ahead. Shanahan said the team will head to Colorado after its road game in Dallas before continuing to Mexico City, giving players time to acclimate to the altitude.
The extra time away means more days without their normal family routines. Shanahan compared it to the team’s trip to Australia, where arriving early helped players adjust to the time difference. In Mexico City, the concern is altitude.
Cousins will have his own adjustment after leaving Las Vegas, though he returns to a franchise he knows well. The Nov. 22 game could put him back across from Shanahan, this time in a Vikings uniform.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines