Jay Gruden cracks joke about ‘Kurt’ Cousins, not worried about contract

RICHMOND — Wednesday afternoon, as Jay Gruden delivered his opening press conference at the start of training camp, he was asked about quarterback Kirk Cousins, and why he isn’t troubled that his starter is playing on another one-year deal. 

“Kirk or… Kirk with a K?” Gruden asked, feigning confusion. 

For those who somehow haven’t heard, Gruden’s joke was a reference to Redskins President Bruce Allen’s odd habit of repeatedly calling his team’s starting quarterback Kurt instead of Kirk.

Allen has done this multiple times in the past and, most recently, seemed to do so while announcing that he and the team had not been able to reach a long-term deal with Cousins, who is playing this season under the franchise tag, by the July 17 deadline. 

Gruden clearly can have a good laugh about Cousins, and he said that there’s a simple reason why he has peace of mind. 

“He was fine last year,” Gruden said. 

Cousins also played under the franchise tag last year, when he threw for 4,917 yards and completed 67 percent of his passes. 

“I thought he competed every day and did everything right and that’s the thing about Kirk is, you never worry about his preparation and it’s not going to vary day in and day out, he’s not going to come in and be a different guy, he’s the same guy every day,” Gruden said. “Great competitor, wants to get better, understands he has a lot of room for improvement.

“He wants to be coached, and it’s fun to coach him so contract status will take care of itself eventually — hopefully — but right now it is what it is and we’re happy to have him for 2017.”