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Five Takeaways: Kirk Cousins' Bengals Week Presser

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Here's five takeaways from Redskins quarterback Trent Williams' media session with reporters on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, at the Inova Sports Performance Center at Redskins Park in Loudoun County, Va.


1. The London trip is a business trip.

Cousins already took two trips this offseason to London to sightsee and visit with London fans. As you'll recall, he spent time with some students teaching them the game of football and posing in front of tourist attractions.

That's why this time around, he's not worried about missing the sights. Because the Redskins arrive on Friday morning, the quarterback knows that between practices, meals, rest and preparing for the Bengals, there won't be too much time for extracurricular activity.

"It is a business trip – have got to win a football game," Cousins sad. "Since I did get to see as much as possible this past offseason, just go play a game and head home."

Cousins is also on a self-imposed sleep schedule to get himself acclimated to the time zone change. So far, he's been heading to bed around 7 p.m. and waking up at 5:30 a.m.

"When I went over there this offseason, I had a hard time adjusting," he said. "I was only there for about three days and it was tough. I was sleeping in until noon or 1:00 just because of how tired I was, so I want to make sure that doesn't happen…. I have people who have helped me and kind of coached me through that. Not other quarterbacks – people who know a lot about sleep and the brain and how it operates best."

2. Andy Dalton's progression is a good blueprint for Cousins.

When head coach Jay Gruden was an offensive coordinator for the Bengals, quarterback Andy Dalton said he was given the independence to make checks at the line based on the looks he saw from defenses, part of his progression in becoming a quality quarterback in the NFL.

Check out these photos of the Redskins' offense preparing for their Week 8 game against the Cincinnati Bengals Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, at the Inova Sports Performance Center at Redskins Park.

Cousins has seen Dalton's progress as a passer in the league and said he's tried to glean as much as he can from Gruden in the coach's third year.

"Andy's a great player and a great person," Cousins said. "I'm always studying quarterbacks around the league and he's included in that. He's done a great job for them as a quarterback, as a leader, and I really admire his game. I certainly want to continue to take steps to play at his level and to do it consistently year-in and year-out, which I think is what the Bengals as a whole have been able to do now for several years."

3. Cousins isn't worried about Rob Kelley' fumbling issues.

The running back had another tough day securing the football against the Lions, fumbling twice and losing one of them to the Lions while fighting for extra yards near the goal line. A third fumble was credited to Cousins, who tripped over center Spencer Long and still tried to hand the ball off to Jones with his left hand, which led to the turnover.

Cousins said that he isn't too worried about Jones' mindset, chalking up the mistakes as regular occurrences in the NFL.

"Fumbles happen," Cousins said. "If you play this game long enough, the ball's going to get turned over. Guys make mistakes, it's OK. And this isn't the first time he or anybody on this team has faced adversity so we all just keep working and he'll be no different. He's a tough player, tough-minded. I think he'll have a good set of games ahead of him."

4. The Lions game boasted a productive offense, but didn't earn the team win.

The challenging part of the Redskins loss to the Lions was that Cousins and the offense looked to be mostly in sync. He threw 30-of-39 passes for 301 yards and a touchdown, along with a rushing touchdown, compiling 413 total net yards.

Still, some turnovers erased a lot of that hard-earned yardage, missed opportunities Cousins knows will be vital to eliminate as they play a Bengals defense starting to gain confidence after a slow start to the season.

"I think not winning the game was upsetting and disappointing but we, once again, moved the football, were productive, were good on first, second, and third down, really," Cousins said. "But, as always, if you don't score enough points and you have some turnovers, it's going to hurt you. So the same old things that hurt you in any game reared their head on Sunday."

5. He still wears, and enjoys, his rubber wedding band during games.

While Cousins has worn a rubber wedding band on his left hand since 2014, it became a topic of discussion again at his press conference on Wednesday.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton suggested that Cousins wear the specially-designed wedding band for athletes and even sent him a few to try back in 2014. Cousins has worn one ever since, a testament to the love he shares with his wife.

"QALO makes them," Cousins said. "They do a good job making a bunch of different sizes. And I've worn them black, white, camo, they've got them all. So check them out online, but I have a bunch in my locker I could give out to guys. I think it's a cool concept… I'm not [a spokesman], but they make a good product. I mean, like I said, I wear it 24/7 and never really know I have it on, so it's been pretty cool. Like I said, happy wife, happy life. And it makes her happy so I'm going to keep wearing it."

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