Vikings' Everson Griffen to apologize to Kirk Cousins for insulting comment

• NFL

Defensive end Everson Griffen insists he is extremely excited to return to the Minnesota Vikings. Griffen, who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft by the Vikings, left the Vikings last year and played for the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.

"Honestly, I wanted to be here," Griffen said, per ESPN. "I really wanted to be here. I felt like this was the best fit for me throughout the whole league. I really wanted to be here and I'm excited to be back. I'm just happy that things worked out the way they did and they welcomed me back with open arms." Griffen admitted he thought it would have been better for him if he left the Vikings.

"I left because I thought the grass was greener on the other side, to be honest, and it wasn't," Griffen said. "Going to Dallas, going to Detroit, the grass wasn't greener. I didn't get the love that I got here with the fans, with the coaches, with the players and the grass wasn't greener.

I learned I'm back home and I'm happy to be home. I should have stayed last year, to be honest. Where people love me, where the fans love me, where you guys love me. I should have stayed but I worked hard. I made sure that I was productive enough.

I should have stayed but I'm happy to be back."

Griffen to apologize to Kirk Cousins

Earlier this offseason, Griffen called quarterback Cousins "ass" and said Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer never wanted to sign a quarterback.

"I haven't really talked to him yet but I'm going to get around to doing that," Griffen said. "Apologize to him, apologize to Coach Zimmer, [general manager] Rick [Spielman] about what I said. I take full ownership in that.

I've still got to talk to Kirk and apologize to him about that." Cousins hasn't been vaccinated for COVID-19 but he has recently vowed to follow all health and safety protocols so he is not forced to miss any games. "I do believe that as a leader of the team, it's very important to follow the protocols to avoid this close contact -- because that is what it's going to come down to," Cousins said.

"Did you have a close contact? So I'm going to be vigilant about avoiding a close contact. I've even thought about, should I just set up literally Plexiglas around where I sit, so this could never happen again? I've thought about it, because I'm going to do whatever it takes.

We're going to avoid this close-contact thing, and I look forward to making sure I'm playing for every game this year."