Kirk Cousins sounds like a man with more to prove

OPINION:

LANDOVER — After leading the Washington Redskins to a 27-11 win Sunday at FedEx Field over the Denver Broncos, quarterback Kirk Cousins was asked about the possibility that he may have played his last home game with this franchise.

“It crosses your mind but like I’ve said all along you have to focus on the present,” he said, reading from the Book of Cousins, Contracts chapter. “Your mind like to wander but as a professional athlete you have to take pride in being mentally tough and focus on the now and that gives you your best chance for success.”

But he had already let his mind wander, and perhaps revealed something he didn’t want to — his emotional commitment to this organization.

What is there to accomplish in these final weeks, I asked Cousins, who is playing under a second straight franchise tag and is looking at free agency unless the Redskins — now 7-8 going into the season finale against the New York Giants — either franchise him for a third season or put the transition tag on him.

He answered with a piece of his heart, not his mind.

“We had a losing season in 2014 and in 2015 and 2016 we didn’t,” he said. “We had a chance after leaving L.A. against the Chargers to go 8-8 and put an end to three straight losing seasons around here. That means a great deal to me, and we’ve been talking about that all week. That is where our focus is — get to 8-8. It’s not 13-3, but it’s not a losing season.

“I want this brand, this organization to be associated with winning, and when people around the league think about, the fans who support this league think about this organization, I want them to think of winners.”

Why would Kirk Cousins care about the brand of this organization — particularly this organization, one with such a damaged reputation — if he was a short-timer? Did Cousins let his guard down there for a moment and show perhaps that, contrary to popular opinion, he may want to stay a Washington Redskin?

God knows why — the front office has not treated him like a someone valuable to their “brand,” publicly trying to embarrass him by revealing the contents of the contract offer that he rejected in July.

And then, likely, leaking to the NFL network on Thanksgiving that they still needed to see more from Cousins and that their future financial commitment would be determined by how he played the final five games of the season.

There is nothing in the history of this team under the ownership of Dan Snyder and the administration of team president Bruce Allen to give one hope that the “brand” could be a source of pride with them in charge.

But there was Cousins, talking about how he wants people to think of the Washington Redskins as “winners.”

Maybe it was a revealing moment. Maybe it was gas.

If the Redskins want to see more, Cousins gave it to them Sunday, leading a depleted, weaponless offense to its second straight win, this one against a tough Denver Broncos defense that was top-ranked in the league.

He completed 19 of 37 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns, He came back from throwing an interception in the end zone early in the third quarter when Washington led by just 10-3 to find Josh Doctson wide open for a 48-yard scoring pass early in the fourth quarter and then Vernon Davis 10 minutes later on a 31-yard touchdown pass to seal the victory.

He’s thrown 24 touchdowns this season with nine interceptions with an offense that lost both DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon to free agency and then his primary leftover weapons Jordan Reed and running back Chris Thompson during the season.

He is on the verge of his third-straight 4,000-yard season with one of the front office replacements for those yards, Terrell Pryor, a bust and out for the season, and the other, Doctson, the second-year number one draft choice, failing to connect with his quarterback for much of the season.

Yet there was Cousins, throwing 13 times to Doctson, who caught just two, but one being the 41-yard scoring pass where he was wide open.

Prove his worth? Here is his worth. Denver, in the form of former Denver Post and current Colorado Springs columnist Woody Paige, came to Washington Sunday to scout their future quarterback.

After Cousins had let his guard down and talked about the “brand” of the team and his passion about having the Redskins associated with winning, Paige, who attended Cousins’ post-game press conference, said to Cousins that it sounded like he had something more to accomplish here.

The prized possible future free agent quarterback went back to the Book of Cousins for his answer. “Who knows?” he said. “We’re going to see how this whole thing goes. My job was to play 16 football games this season. That was when the ball was in my court. I still have another game to play. That is where my focus is, and when the season is over, we’ll go from there. But the ball is in my court and I have to play football and do the best I can.”

And protect the brand — the Washington Redskins brand.

• Thom Loverro hosts his weekly podcast “Cigars & Curveballs” Wednesdays available on iTunes, Google Play and the reVolver podcast network.