Kirk Cousins’ command of Redskins offense evident at organized team activities

After Kirk Cousins completed a touchdown to Ryan Grant in a red-zone drill during organized team activities last week, he ran toward the Washington Redskins’ wide receiver and yelled, “Let’s celebrate! Let’s celebrate!”

Grant’s bland high five didn’t exactly pack the juice Cousins was looking for, but that didn’t deter the quarterback’s mood after completing the nicely-timed fade in the end zone.

Cousins was sharp in this particular drill and completed touchdowns to wide receivers Jamison Crowder and Pierre Garcon as well. He fired a dart to Crowder in the back of the end zone who made a nice catch while surrounded by defenders. Crowder almost had another touchdown but could not get both feet in bounds. Garcon made an impressive catch as dragged his toes in the front corner of the end zone and stretched for the ball.

The sequence underscored a strong day for Cousins, who has looked more comfortable and in command of the offense entering his second season as the starting quarterback. Cousins has always brought enthusiasm in practice, but the difference now is he’s getting a majority of the offseason workout reps, something he didn’t experience in past years as a backup.

“He’s obviously playing with a lot of confidence, having a lot of fun,” coach Jay Gruden said last Wednesday. “He’s got great command of the offense, that’s the one thing that you notice. He’s got great command over the formations. He’s got great command on the snap count, and that’s something he didn’t so much have the first year I was here and even last year in this time of year.

“But when you get command of the little things, it makes the big things a lot easier and he’s seeing things a lot better concepts versus different coverage he’s doing a good job. You know, we’re all just trying to get better out here. He’s doing good.”

Cousins’ confidence is visible beyond his throws. During the three weeks of OTAs, he’s appeared more active at the line of scrimmage, calling more audibles and identifying proper protections when he sees something in the defense.

Last season, Cousins was not named the starter until Aug. 31 at the end of the preseason. Former Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III controlled first-team reps during OTAs and training camp, while Cousins and McCoy competed for the second-string role.

After getting the majority of the practice snaps during OTAs this spring, Cousins is looking forward to parlaying that experience into mandatory minicamp this week and training camp, which begins on July 28.

“I do think I’m playing with more confidence, have better understanding of defenses and our scheme, and our protection and our routes,” Cousins said at his youth football camp on Saturday in Lorton, Va. “And as a result, I’m able to grow as a player. That’s to be expected. I’m only going into year five and haven’t played a ton of football, but as a result I’m able to grow as a player and I haven’t plateaued and that’s exciting. Keep stacking days on top of each other and see where it takes us.”