Cleveland Brown’s quarterback Baker Mayfield recently spoke about how he “lost himself” during a rocky 2019 season.
While it’s up to Mayfield to find this path back to success this season, it certainly does not hurt to have veteran quarterback Case Keenum running as a guide.
Keenum has a solid understanding of what head coach Kevin Stefanski wants from the offense, having spent the 2017 season as the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings with Stefanski as the team’s quarterback coach.
Now in his first season with the Browns, Keenum arranges himself in the role of helping Mayfield deepen the wide-zone schemes of Stefanski’s playbook.
And even though it’s still early days, Keenum loves what he’s seen from Mayfield through his first five training camp practices, according to The Beacon Journal‘s Nate Ulrich:
‘Baker does a great job, because some of this, he comes cold, and he operates to get in and out of the huddle, has great feet, great pace, and he’s even able to rap as a kind of pace, slowing down his drop at certain times as well, depending on the concept and where the field is. I was very impressed with how fast he picked it up, especially with not having a resource together [due to the COVID-19 pandemic]. We all worked virtually, trying to steer our footwork [videos to the coaches], to do so in such a short time has been quite impressive.
‘He has a much stronger arm in person than he does on film, and he made some really good throws on film. It has been nice to get to know him first and then to see him work, see, operate and see how he deals with teammates. I am very impressed. ”
The impact Keenum could have on Mayfield from Monday through Saturday has not been lost on Stefanski, according to cleveland.com:
“On the practice field, in the meeting room, in the weight room – absolutely. Case, I’ve been around him, so I know him. He is a son of a coach. He loves this game, he wants to win and he wants to be a part of winning. I know that relationship is so important between the starter and the backup. I can tell you that he is envious of helping this team win in any way he can, and that is Baker in every way he can support. ”
Mayfield may have been lost at times in 2019, but with Keenum helping him guide him through training camp, it may not take long for Mayfield to find his way back.
