BEREA, Ohio — Case Keenum will have a chance to give his former Browns team a lump of coal for Christmas.
Keenum, 3-0 in his last three starts, will start against the Browns with rookie C.J. Stroud being officially ruled out on Friday for the second straight game with his concussion.
“Case is a great guy,” Myles Garrett said Friday. “Had a lot of fun over the years he was here. Man, he’s still a heck of a talent. He’s clever and he goes out there enjoying the game every time he’s out there on the field, whether that’s practice or games. I know he’ll have a lighthearted demeanor. We’ll have to face off but it’s no hard feelings.”
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During the ManningCast on ESPN2 Monday night, Keenum revealed that he hopes to cash in on an agreement he made with Garrett when they were teammates here.
“I’m hoping he remembers the deal I made with him in the hot tub back in 2021,” Keenum said. “I said ‘Hey Myles, if I give you two sacks in the first quarter, you just don’t rush for the rest of the game.’ Obviously, I don’t know if I’ll be playing or not yet, but we’ll see if he remembers that deal.”
Peyton Manning applauded Keenum for his foresight.
“I like that, that’s smart,” Manning said. “That’s good forward-thinking on your part.”
But Garrett doesn’t view it as a binding agreement.
“I don’t recall signing on any dotted lines,” he said. “If he’s got the paper he can show it to me on Sunday. We might be able to work something out, but until then I think I might have to do the dirty work.”
Kevin Stefanski didn’t know as of his 12:45 p.m. press conference if Stroud was in our out, despite the fact he hadn’t practiced all week.
“We’ve done our homework on both guys and worked really hard to understand both guys,” Stefanski said. “I know this, either one of those guys is extremely talented and can win football games.”
Stefanski and Keenum know each other so well that Keenum played a practical joke on Stefanski when he returned from a bout with COVID-19 in 2021, during which he lost his sense of taste and smell. Keenum hid an unidentified item in Stefanski’s office and asked him if he could smell it.
The two go back to their Minnesota days, when Keenum went 11-3 in 2017 with Stefanski as his quarterbacks coach, and led them to the NFC Championship Game against the Eagles, where they lost 38-7. Jim Schwartz was Eagles defensive coordinator at the time, and Philly went on to beat the Pats in the Super Bowl, 41-33.
“A true vet that has seen everything,” Schwartz said of Keenum. “Very accurate passer. He does it a little bit different than C.J. Stroud, but led them to a win last week. And when it’s all said and done, head coaches and quarterbacks are judged on wins and Case Keenum is a winner. So we’re going to have to play our very best against him. Our guys know him a little bit, some of his strengths and his weaknesses. So again, whatever the Texans do at quarterback, you know, we’re prepared. We’re prepared not just for them, but for (third-string quarterback) Davis Mills also.”
Keenum also went 2-0 for the Browns in 2021, and many of his former teammates are still here.
“Case is a smart football player, a veteran, a guy that’s good at hitting his shots at certain spots and we’re definitely going to have to be aware of him,” said linebacker Sione Takitaki. “He can go out there and win games. I know it’s not Stroud, but you can’t sleep on Case. We are real familiar with him and he makes plays at a high level still. So veteran QB, very smart. We’re going to have to definitely be ready for him.”
