FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — From the moment Kirk Cousins stepped into the Atlanta Falcons training facility, he made an impact.
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said in his pre-draft press conference Tuesday that Cousins took the field during Atlanta's voluntary minicamp, which began Monday and run through Wednesday.
Cousins is a little more than five months out from a surgery that repaired his torn right Achilles tendon. As the offseason heads into Phase III, players continue to participate in non-contact activities but helmets are now permitted.
When Cousins signed with Atlanta in March, he said he'd be "full speed" before training camp in July. Since March, though, Fontenot said he has seen Cousins "really hit the ground running."
"The excitement about Kirk Cousins is that he's a multiplier on and off the field," Fontenot said. "We know that, so when he gets in the building and in the training room ... he truly is (that with) the work that he does."
Fontenot has personally noticed that Cousins sits at the front of head coach Raheem Morris' team meetings. Cousins is locked in, the general manager said, taking notes.
"He's like a nerd up there," Fontenot said. "He's obsessed with it."
In fact, that obsession with the game is one of the things the Falcons love most about Cousins.
"We know that fits what we're about in this culture," Fontenot said.
The Falcons believe they found what they were looking for in Cousins during free agency, and they'll look for another multiplier heading into the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday. And in the meantime?
"We know that (Cousins is) going to take advantage of anything he can do to get himself ready to go in and peak condition," Fontenot said.
