Did Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins take a shot at his former Minnesota Vikings club?

During a recent appearance on The Big Podcast with Shaquille O’Neal, Cousins was asked if he had any former teammates he would enjoy seeing have a breakout year.

The first guy that came to his mind was wide receiver K.J. Osborn, who played with Cousins in Minnesota and signed with the New England Patriots last month.

“Pretty much all of them, but K.J. Osborn is a receiver who was with us in Minnesota who was kind of in the shadow of Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen,” Cousins said. “And I always felt like K.J. was better than the opportunities he got. He went to free agency and went to New England, and I’d love to see him have a huge year in New England kind of with a bigger role than what he had in Minnesota to show what he could do.”

So, was Cousins throwing some shade at the Vikings with that quote, or was he just saying Osborn was truly unable to get enough opportunities behind Jefferson, Thielen and, most recently, Jordan Addison?

“That list would go on and on of guys who I feel like because they have someone in front of them, they don’t get to be as good or show as good as they really are,” Cousins continued. “You want those guys to get opportunities.”

Maybe Cousins wasn’t really knocking the Vikings here, but given his rather unceremonious exit from Minnesota in free agency last month, it stands to reason that he could be a little annoyed with his former organization.

He may have a legitimate point about Osborn, though.

Osborn, who played his collegiate football at the University of Miami, was selected by the Vikings in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

His best season in Minnesota came in 2021, when he caught 50 passes for 655 yards and seven touchdowns. This past year, he snared 48 balls for 540 yards and three scores.

Perhaps the Patriots will do a better job of utilizing Osborn’s talents, much like Kirk Cousins said.

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