He is probably better at pass protection than run blocking because UTEP threw more than it ran. Most scouts label Cousins a "project" because he started at offensive tackle only for his two final seasons in college, on the left side as a junior and on the right last season.
He came to UTEP as a defensive tackle. He didn't start playing football until his sophomore year at a private California high school.
Cousins played soccer in his homeland, in Portland, Jamaica, before arriving in the United States at age 15.
"I came to the States to get an education and play soccer," Cousins said. "I played football once and fell in love with the sport. I like the preparation and the fact that when you get upset at yourself, or someone, you can take that aggressiveness out. It's legal. I have a lot of fun doing that."
Cousins' mother, Elaine Stewart, wasn't so thrilled about the change in sports. Each summer, her son was bigger and stronger when he returned to Jamaica. He came to America weighing 170. He now weighs 310.
"My momma, she wasn't too happy at first. She didn't want her baby to get hurt," Cousins said. "She also kept saying, `You're getting bigger. You must be eating well.'
"But as soon as she found I was in love with football, and that it was going to help me excel, she was happy for me."
Cousins and Brown have a lot more in common than their on-field personalities. Both are soft-spoken and easygoing. Both were long shots to make pro teams entering their senior seasons in college.
And both came from poor families.
"We just knew how to survive," Cousins said of his family. "I've learned to ... bring what I always bring to the game, and that's to be physical and have some fun."
mike.preston@baltsun.com
