Kirk Cousins feels sharp despite limited snaps in games

ASHBURN — This preseason has a different feel for Kirk Cousins than it did last summer when he was entrenched in a competition for his position on the depth chart.

There was an abundance of reps in preseason games then, and certainly no circumstance where coach Jay Gruden would inform the team Cousins was pulled from the starting lineup roughly 30 minutes before kickoff, like he did last week against the New York Jets, so backup Colt McCoy could get more reps against a quality defense.

Cousins’ stature as the Redskins’ starting quarterback for a second consecutive season has resulted in plenty of time under center on the practice field, but just eight snaps in preseason games — all of which came on the first series against the Atlanta Falcons two weeks ago.

He’s expected to play at least the first half against the Buffalo Bills on Friday, the Redskins’ third preseason game and final dress rehearsal for the starters ahead of the regular season. Despite throwing just five passes in a game this preseason — he completed all of them for 39 yards against the Falcons — Cousins said he’s feeling sharp as his heaviest workload of the preseason approaches.

“I feel like I’ve thrown a lot more than five passes because of how many reps I’m getting every day in practice,” Cousins said on Monday. “And as a starting quarterback I’m getting a lot of reps, so much more than I would’ve as a backup quarterback. So, I feel very ready and then more importantly is the fact that we have this entire week to get ready like a normal rhythm to a game week. So those two things I think gets you about as prepared as you can.”

Last preseason, Cousins completed 40 of his 53 pass attempts, or 75.5 percent, for 435 yards and two touchdowns and an interception.

Now, Cousins has emphasized maximizing the efficiency of his practice reps as he builds toward the Redskins’ season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. With the starting job secure, Cousins said he feels more confident experimenting in certain situations or tweaking throws.

There was less margin for error when Cousins was jockeying for position with Colt McCoy and former Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III.

“As a backup I was always trying to play well enough that the coaches would go back and say, ’We can’t wait for this guy to get on the field. It may not be this Sunday, it may not be this season, but, boy, it’s exciting to see the way he practices and how efficient he is. We can’t wait to see what he’d do in a real game,’” Cousins said.

“That was always my mindset. And then as a starting quarterback, I think you want to be really sharp, but like you mentioned, in training camp you’re not trying to necessarily be ready to go for the first preseason game, you’re trying to be ready to go for Week 1. So you’re trying to build everything towards Week 1 a little bit more than when you’re fighting for that backup spot trying to earn just a spot on the team. When you’re not fighting for that roster spot necessarily day in and day out, you can just build towards Week 1 and like you said maybe test to see can I fit that ball in there, how can I learn from this rep and, you know, try some different things that you may fail in practice, but only for the purpose of building to be better come the first game of the regular season.”

That mindset has been reflected in training camp, particularly as Cousins has grown more comfortable and active at the line of scrimmage when calling out protections or making adjustments to the play.

Still, it’s difficult to simulate a game situation, which is why Cousins is looking forward to getting more than just eight live snaps with the starting offense.

He’ll go through his pregame warmup routine, just like he did last week against the Jets, and go to midfield for the coin toss. Except this time, instead of just watching from the sidelines, Cousins will get an extended opportunity to incorporate what the team is trying to accomplish against on Sept. 12 when the games matter for real.

“That’s what this Friday night will be all about is getting that rhythm so that when we do go out against the Steelers on Monday night, you feel like you’ve been there and you are ready to go and it hasn’t been too long since you last took a snap in the stadium in a gamelike atmosphere against a different opponent,” Cousins said. “That’s why I’m excited about this Friday because it will be a good dress rehearsal. We want to be sharp. We want to have a really good feeling coming off the field so that we can carry over to Week 1.”