(Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) Kirk Cousins

In his first season without Mike Zimmer as the team’s head coach, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is enjoying playing football again.

Following his team’s win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, videos of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins donning a pair of black sunglasses and four of his teammates’ iced-out chains with his white undershirt tucked into his sweatpants began to pop up all over social media.

With a 5-1 record heading into their bye week, the Vikings are having fun playing football again, especially Cousins, who has really let his guard down during the last few weeks.

🎥: @showtimesully10 | IG pic.twitter.com/36vzQR9TDA

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 16, 2022

During Cousins’ first four seasons with Minnesota, Mike Zimmer was the team’s head coach. Zimmer utilized more of a no-nonsense, in-your-face approach to just about everything, and his style of coaching ultimately resulted in the Vikings moving on from him earlier this year.

Cousins still had some moments with smiles and laughter during his first four seasons with the Vikings. But these moments typically didn’t seem as genuine as what we’ve seen from the Minnesota quarterback this year.

New Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has a much more modern approach to his profession, which features more positivity and less throwing players under the bus when they make mistakes.

O’Connell’s style has clearly allowed Cousins to feel like he can be himself, which means he can fully embrace the dorky dad that he truly is. The approach of his new head coach has had an impact on the quarterback’s on-field performance this season as well.

Cousins has been able to maintain his composure this year, even after making a mistake or two. In the past, the Minnesota quarterback would usually get super conservative with his throws following an interception.

But this season, Cousins doesn’t seem as flustered after making a mistake. Maybe it’s because he knows he’s no longer going to get chewed out in the locker room or thrown under the bus during the post-game presser by his head coach anymore?

Cousins keeping his focus after making mistakes this year has allowed the Vikings to remain in their games until the very end. The change in approach has Minnesota with a 5-1 record after the first six weeks of the season and it’s hard for anyone in the locker room to not smile about that.

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