Nice space here.

I like having a place where I can leave stuff, where I can work on my own. Our quarterbacks room is also the offensive staff room, so there would be times when I’d come in after a game, Monday morning, and the staff was watching film. I was homeless; I’d bounce around, wherever was available. And I could never leave stuff. I’d have all these notes and checklists [scattered about]. I said, “If I could have a space where I could leave everything and be organized, that would really help.” The team was kind enough to revamp this space. I told them I might need a door. They said they couldn’t do it. So I’m thinking about maybe putting saloon doors on, just for fun.

Give me the one-minute tour.

I’ve got a bin over here of every game plan I’ve ever had, going back years, from Michigan State even. I’ve got old folders from the Shanahans [former Redskins coaches Mike and Kyle]. Playbooks from 2012 and ’13. Notes from going down to see Jon Gruden in the offseason. Notes from our ’15 offseason mini-camp. If I ever coach, I’ll want to refer to this stuff. . . . Originally I just had a laptop in here. The video guys were kind enough to put a monitor up. I got a couple white boards and my wife ordered a bunch of stuff off the Internet as a joke. (Cousins shows off a miniature Newton’s cradle, like you’d see on an exec’s desk in the 1980s, and a calendar of daily Jeff Foxworthy jokes. Today’s entry: You might be a redneck if your rugs and the contents of your freezer are related.) I’ve got some supplies, pens. . . . I’ve got my inspirational quote over here. (Handwritten on a piece of pinned-up white paper: The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, long before I dance under those lights. —Muhammad Ali.) And then I’ve got my poster. (He points to a torn-out magazine photo of a white sand beach.) The Cayman Islands—that’s a place [my wife] Julie and I have vacationed a couple times. I have no window here, so that’s my window.

You two just had your first kid a few weeks ago. Cooper Wesley Cousins.

I guess I like the alliteration of Cooper and Cousins.

What was that week like?

Eleven days passed from the due date to when the baby actually came, just waiting and waiting. Eventually on a Thursday afternoon I left practice—skipped post-practice meetings—to drive to the birthing center. They told me it could come any minute. It wasn’t until 30 hours later, so I missed an entire day of work.

Due date = Monday Praying Baby Cousins waits for his daddy to return from Los Angeles 🙏 #HTTR A post shared by Julie Cousins (@juliehcousins) on Sep 15, 2017 at 7:06pm PDT

When’s the last time that happened?

Oh, I haven’t missed a practice since I’ve been here. That was my first one. Going into a Monday Night Football game against the Chiefs that week, I didn’t really want to miss a day. But Colt [McCoy, my backup,] set up his phone in the quarterback meeting room and we got on FaceTime. I was basically there without being there. . . . Julie’s contractions were coming every four to five minutes, and they lasted about 30 seconds—but outside of that I was able to focus [on football] and Julie was very understanding. She could hear my coaches and [teammates] talking in the background but she said it was fine. When she needed to grab my hand to get through a contraction for 30 seconds, I was there—and I had my iPad next to me, looking at cut-ups, in between. I think our doula thought that was weird. She wanted me a little more present. But Julie understood.

Lucky timing: Your bye the next weekend kind of served as a paternity leave.

We played Monday night, got back at like 5 a.m. from Kansas City, and then had Wednesday through Sunday off. I was able to spend time with Julie and the baby, learn how to change a diaper, hold him, be helpful.