It wasn't a football field where Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins realized just how big in size and stature wide receiver Terrelle Pryor Sr. really was (6-foot-4, 228 pounds, to be exact).
It was a Cleveland rest stop.
On his way home to Ashburn from Holland, Mich., before the start of training camp last year, Cousins made a quick stop off a northeast Ohio highway, where he just happened to spot Pryor, who happened to be returning for Cleveland Browns training camp.
"He was in line at Starbucks and he was going back to camp in Cleveland, and I was going back to camp here, and he stopped me," Cousins said at his press conference Thursday. "He had his hood up trying to blend in. He stopped me and I went over and said hello. We obviously both played in the Big 10 and he introduced himself. I was surprised at how big he was then, too, in the line at Starbucks."
It wasn't until Week 4, when the Browns came to FedExField, when Cousins saw what that size could produce in a game setting. Pryor caught five passes for 46 yards and a touchdown, just a small sample of his 1,000-yard-plus season.
"I was really impressed with what he was able to do, the separation he was getting, the number of times they went his way and he was still producing," Cousins said. "He had a great year last year, we just want to build on that and hopefully give him an opportunity to have even more success this season."
That will develop over training camp, as Cousins and Pryor get in sync on a variety of routes, and that relationship should be aided by an offense featuring Jamison Crowder, Josh Doctson and Jordan Reed, once he returns healthy.
As for Cousins' transportation during last year's trip, the quarterback couldn't remember if he was hauling down the highway in his famous conversion van.
"The van continues to live on," Cousins said. "Virginia Tire and Auto does all of the work on it so they're keeping it alive. There's one right down the street from my townhouse and I go there and they make sure that everything is good, the tires are good so we can stay safe and ready to go. So if I've got Virginia Tire and Auto on the deal, then I think the van's going to last for a long time, we'll see."
