Kirk Cousins has his family by his side as he checks in for a new NFL season.

The Minnesota Vikings quarterback, 34, and wife Julie Hampton Cousins smiled with their boys — Turner, 4, Cooper, 5½ — in photos from training camp that Julie shared on Instagram Monday.

“Playtime at training camp! Vikes make it so fun for the families and friends 🤩,” the mom of two, 33, captioned the shots.

Speaking with PEOPLE about his part in the recently-released Netflix docuseries Quarterback, Kirk said his sons are starting to enjoy the game, even if they don’t understand dad’s role.

“I don’t think they quite understand it yet, but each year they take another step towards really playing a part of it, which has been fun for me. And so I made it a goal to play long enough before I retire that my boys could really remember it and will have enjoyed being a part of it,” the 11-year NFL star told PEOPLE.

“And I feel that in this documentary about this past season, that started to happen in some ways it hadn’t happened before.”

“It does mean a great deal to me that my boys could come to training, camp, practices, and watch practice and play catch with us afterward, and come into locker room after a special win,” he continued. “And they stay up late to watch the game because they’re so wanting to follow it.”

“They do want to watch the game now. They care about the score,” Julie added. “They want to learn who Kirk’s teammates are, and that makes it even more fun for Kirk and I to teach them all about it. We look forward to more years where they can continue along with us and share that passion with us. It makes it so much more fun where we can include them.”

Julie called this time of year “one of my favorite parts of NFL life.”

“Doing life with our teammates and our coaches and trying to accomplish a goal together is just so fun,” Julie said. “The way that the Vikings include the families is something that I really appreciate. The owners of the team do not have to spend the money for us the way that they do. They spoil us with amenities like childcare during games, and food during games. For the families, they have an amazing spread of food and air conditioning every single day of training camp.”
“And from day one of going to the Vikings, I felt like I was a part of it even though I’m not a player,” the mom of two admitted. “I feel very included and welcomed and loved and I think everybody would say the same thing from the team, and that’s something that’s priceless.”