FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins took a lesson he learned from the great Peyton Manning and has used it as a foundational tool in building his relationship with offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
Cousins’ secret weapon is the voice-memo function on his cellphone.
“All right, I’ll out him,” Cousins said. “Sorry, Sheriff. So, Peyton Manning had reached out a while ago, I don’t know, it was two years ago or whatever. He ended up just voice-memoing.”
Cousins liked the seamless exchange of information.
“So, I voice-memoed him back and then he voice-memoed me, and we were talking about, I don’t know, he was doing the ManningCast or whatever,” Cousins said. “He needed something. I don’t know what it was, but I was like, this is a great way to communicate. Leave it to the Sheriff. He’s so smart. He knows what to do. So, I started doing it, and it’s now my preferred way to communicate.”
Robinson was new to receiving voice memos.
“I think he’s always driving or something, so I haven’t heard the kids in the background,” Robinson said. “I mean, I know he’s got a lot going on at the house with his two sons.”
Cousins usually has a detailed plan for his memos.
“You can tell he’s got his notepad that he writes all of his notes and he writes the plays as small as he possibly can in there,” Robinson said. “I can tell he’s reading down all of his thoughts and it really goes kind of in-game order with a lot of his thoughts, so it’s very easy to follow. Kirk is as processed (of a) guy as it comes, which is what makes him a great player.”
The Falcons needed the relationship between Robinson and Cousins to flourish. With the team off to a 4-2 start and with the eighth-ranked offense in yards (368.3 yards) and 11th in points (24.8), things are going well.
“Yeah, no, it’s been good,” Robinson said. “We’re constantly learning about each other. You get to know people throughout the offseason and throughout training camp.”
Robinson is a first-time NFL play-caller with a veteran quarterback, who has an ideal of how he wants attack.
“Once you get really into it, you figure out more about people just with the high stress that comes every single week, every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and prep and then obviously Sundays,” Robinson said. “The things that come after a win or a loss and handling those things, handling adversity. You learn a lot about people.”
So far, everything is all good.
“We’ve got a great relationship,” Robinson said. “(Cousins’) wife and my wife are great friends, live in the same neighborhood. Their kids are running around with my two little ones. We saw them a bunch, whether it was this summer or in the spring hanging out at the pool, so all those things just kind of naturally happen.”
They hope things continue to blossom.
“They’re such great people, and it’s been a lot of fun to get to know them,” Robinson said. “Kirk’s doing a great job for us and just going to continue to learn more about each other as we get the season going.”
Everything hasn’t gone smoothly.
“Yeah, I think it was a little disappointing the first couple weeks, if you will, or first game, to not start faster,” Cousins said. “I do think each week has been better and better. I do think that, we’re building a rapport. I’m excited about that. I think there’s more to go build, too.”
Part of building the football relationship necessary between the quarterback and the offensive coordinator revolves around being open with one another.
“I think we’re going to keep building that rapport, keep having those shared experiences,” Cousins said. “He’s going to continue to kind of understand what I’m comfortable with, what I do well, and then vice versa.”
The relationship building goes both ways.
“I’m going to understand where he’s coming from and what he wants us to look like,” Cousins said. “I think you’ve seen that progression happen kind of before our eyes over the last few weeks. But I also think knowing how much you build with a coach over time, I think there’s so much more to go.”
There will be more detailed voice memos, for sure.
“I don’t want to waste his time,” Cousins said. “I’ll have notes in front of me and try to have it pretty organized. If I’m driving, then I’m going to be able to see that to be pulled from my head. But if I’m watching film and have notes in front of me, I’ll try to get those organized before I send it.”
Cousins really likes the voice memo.
“It’s an efficient way to have a conversation so he can catch it in his best time,” Cousins said. “Then he can have some thoughts, think about it for a second before he would just respond. Sometimes, we’re just not right next to each other. It’s like my office is right next to his. So, just to be able to have that conversation, I think it’s helpful.”
Falcons coach Raheem Morris knows the importance of the quarterback and play-caller relationship.
“It’s been great for me just having the front row seat of watching Zac develop into what he’s doing and having a chance to go implement how he believes and how he thinks,” Morris said. “Also, really, when you get put in those positions, it’s really to be able to teach your coaches and to be able to show your coaches how you think.”
Morris believes he is witnessing the maturation process of Robinson as a play-caller.
“To really watch him now mesh with Kirk and for those guys to be able to go through the little small differences that they’ve had within the systems that they’ve been in and to work through the frameworks of all the things that you’ve got to work with from an offensive standpoint,” Morris said.
They had to work through the cadence, matching up different ideas and offensive concepts.
“(It) has really gone well for us,” Morris said. “You really see us, like I keep mentioning, this growth mindset every single week to get better. That is fun to be around.”
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