HENDERSON, Nev. — At this stage of his career, you wouldn’t think 37-year-old Kirk Cousins would be nervously checking his watch to make sure he doesn’t arrive late to a voluntary practice, of all things.
Yet, that is exactly what the new Raiders quarterback found himself doing throughout the club’s two-month offseason program, which wrapped up Wednesday when the final horn sounded to conclude minicamp.
Cousins is as conscientious and hard-wired as they come, so it’s not like he has a history of being tardy. In fact, he prides himself on beating everyone to work.
But the veteran quarterback has quickly picked up on the serious tone that new Raiders coach Klint Kubiak is setting in Las Vegas. It’s predicated on thoroughness and work ethic, with a heavy emphasis on even the most minute details.
That includes a keen awareness of punctuality and being prepared to work as soon as you set foot in the building.
As vested as Cousins is in the NFL, and despite the deep roots he has with Kubiak after working under him for three years with the Vikings, he isn’t above being on the wrong end of a disapproving glare from Kubiak.
Even if it’s for something as small as rolling into work not late, mind you, but not early enough.
All part of the new culture the 39-year-old Kubiak is cultivating with the Raiders as a first-time NFL coach.
“I feel it,” Cousins said. “I’m like, ‘I better be on today.’ I check my watch like four times to make sure I’m on time or early, because I just feel like he brings that sense of urgency that the great coaches tend to bring.”
Therein lies the crux of Kubiak’s first five months at the helm.
“All ball,” Raiders cornerback Eric Stokes said.
Yes, there is time for fun. But there is a new sense of urgency in Las Vegas that hasn’t been felt since the Raiders landed here in 2020. It’s not necessarily about winning immediately; it’s about maximizing every next step in a way that will eventually lead to positive outcomes.
“It’s our job as coaches to set expectations and to give a detailed plan and to see the players execute it and not walk past a mistake,” Kubiak said. “If it’s not done right, do it again until you get it right, because on Sunday, everybody’s jobs are on the line, and we’re counting on everybody: coaches and players. So, it’s just important that we’re all held accountable. We know what the standard is, and we go execute the plan.”
Frankly, it’s one of the primary reasons Raiders minority owner Tom Brady and general manager John Spytek, who led the club’s most recent coaching search, quickly identified Kubiak as the right leader for a football team that has produced only two winning seasons and two playoff appearances over the last 23 years.
On top of his offensive acumen — Kubiak was the offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion Seahawks last season — there is a meticulousness and seriousness about Kubiak that players not only respect and respond to, but eventually emulate.
And it is in line with the top-down atmosphere that Brady and Spytek are setting in Las Vegas, where attention to detail is nonnegotiable and accountability is constant. Eventually, they hope the winning habits they establish will replace the hopeful thinking that’s been going on in this organization for far too long.
No, it doesn’t guarantee everything will work out. But the Raiders desperately needed a redirect because the old way clearly wasn’t working.
All ball, indeed.
“I love it. I mean, I’m kind of like that as a person. Like, let’s just get to it. We’re here to win games, we’re here to play football,” wide receiver Tre Tucker said. “All the extra stuff, I mean, that’s what you do on your outside life, but when we’re here, let’s get to work, let’s do what we need to do, let’s win games, let’s have fun.”
The fingerprints of Brady, Spytek and the rest of the front office were all over the club’s offseason, first with the hiring of Kubiak and then by carrying out an expansive roster reset in free agency and the draft.
It’s now on Kubiak to make it all work on the field, and it starts with recreating a mindset that, over the years, has been heavily influenced by big personalities such as Jon Gruden, Antonio Pierce and Pete Carroll.
The low-key Kubiak is not an extrovert like some of his predecessors, but his new players are quickly learning not to mistake his quiet demeanor for weakness. In the process, they are welcoming the clarity and earnestness in his messaging.
“He’s direct, there’s no fluff, everything’s straightforward, real with him,” veteran left tackle Kolton Miller said. “And we all appreciate that.”
Or, as Stokes put it: “It’s all ball with him. And that’s what I love, like he steps up, but he isn’t taking any little giggles, no nothing. Like, we’re about business. We’re coming in, we’re doing this and doing that, like there isn’t any other unnecessary stuff going on. Like, nah, he’s just straight ball.”
