Never say never, right?
While New York Jets star Aaron Rodgers can't return from a torn Achilles this season with his team eliminated from postseason contention, there's still an outside chance for another elite quarterback.
Minnesota Vikings star Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles on Oct. 29 in Week 8 when his team beat the Green Bay Packers 24-10 at Lambeau Field.
That's just eight weeks after Rodgers' tear, but the Vikings, unlike the Jets, are still in postseason contention. Cousins' wife, Julie, is "holding out hope" the QB can return for Super Bowl LVIII in February, he revealed Wednesday on "The Adam Schefter Podcast."
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"My wife is holding out hope that somehow if Aaron [Rodgers] can get back fast, then you add seven, eight weeks, that I'd be right there at the Super Bowl," Cousins said. "Who knows? We'll see, this league is crazy."
The Vikings currently are 7-7 and hold the No. 6 seed in the NFC. Their remaining three games are all in the NFC North: home versus the Detroit Lions, home versus the Packers and at the Lions. Both foes are in the playoff picture, with the 10-4 Lions leading the division and the 6-8 Packers in the hunt.
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But even if Minnesota shocked the world and ran the table to reach the Super Bowl in Las Vegas with Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall and Joshua Dobbs in the QB room, Cousins acknowledged he likely wouldn't be the signal caller under center that day.
"I said to my wife, if they make it to the Super Bowl without me, they’re probably not going to want to play me in that game if they got that far without me," Cousins said. "I would be the first one there cheering them on and would love to get fitted for a ring, but I don’t know I’d be the one playing in it."
Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell on Wednesday responded to Cousins' comments, lauding his commitment to recovering, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.
"Every time I’ve talked to him, he seems to be very encouraged," O'Connell said. "I have no idea what that would look like along that timeline. But I would say that hearing his rehab schedule both here when he’s around our guys and our trainers and our team, and then the extra work he’s putting in, this guy is committed to his craft as a quarterback.
"But you’re seeing that same kind of process and dedication to it through his rehab. And I think it’s all going to lead to, whenever that is, him making a full return and being ready to go."
Cousins, 35, has never been to the Super Bowl in his career and owns a playoff record of 0-3, but if somehow he were to feature in it this season, he'd definitely like that.
