“I don’t remember paying attention a lot to what was said about me at Michigan State, and I certainly haven’t gone out of my way to find it here,” Cousins said. “But it still gets back to you one way or the other at times. And I do find the scrutiny in this market and the NFL in general, it does seem to be more intense, more of a fishbowl.

“It’s part of the deal. And I do believe as an NFL quarterback you’ve got to be mentally tough, emotionally tough. You’ve got to block out good and bad. You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.”