QBs not putting focus on the reunion aspect
Case Keenum was in no mood to reminisce Tuesday as he stood in front of a gaggle of reporters who primarily wanted him to talk about the past. The Washington Redskins quarterback clearly would rather have been elsewhere, talking about anything else, and quickly exited the dais at the first pause in questioning.
Players may not like it, but this shortened week has been just as much about the past as it is about the present. Thursday night’s matchup in Minnesota between the Redskins and the Vikings features several high-profile reunions, including Keenum playing against his former team.
“There’s really no need to get more amped for any game in this league, especially when you’re playing a team like this with a great defense,” Keenum said. “I’ve played long enough to where I feel like if I keep going like I’m going, I might play against my old team every week. It’s adding up now, so it’s just a normal game for me.”
Keenum is returning to Minnesota’s U.S. Bank Stadium for the first time since he led the Vikings to the NFC championship game during the 2017 season. It is the site of his crowning professional achievement — a 61-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs with no time remaining against the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round game.
“There’s not enough time to reminisce,” Keenum said. “It’s a special time, a special play, special group of guys, something I’ll remember forever, but not necessarily this week.”
Keenum helped lead that team to a 13-3 record, but the Vikings decided to let him walk in free agency after the season — which ended with a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game — and invested a fully guaranteed $84 million in Kirk Cousins.
That leads us to the second reunion of the week, as Cousins will be facing his former team for the first time.
The Redskins drafted Cousins in 2012, but despite his leading the team to one playoff appearance among three consecutive 4,000-yard seasons, Washington declined to commit to him long term.
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Instead, the organization used the franchise tag on him in back-to-back years, leading to a contract stalemate that eventually resulted in his departure.
The quarterback reunions, along with the return of Adrian Peterson to Minnesota, the team for which he starred much of his career, adds a layer of intrigue to the matchup. Redskins interim coach Bill Callahan downplayed the role that any familiarity with Cousins, who has thrown for 10 touchdowns and just one interception during Minnesota’s three-game winning streak following a slow start to his Vikings tenure, might have on the game. But there’s no question several Washington defenders are used to what Cousins does and doesn’t like to do.
“We would say at the Giants, ‘You don’t know what kind of Kirk Cousins you’re going to get,’ ” said safety Landon Collins, who played against Cousins as a member of New York’s defense. “Right now, they’re getting Pro Bowl Kirk Cousins.”
Whereas 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, a former Redskins offensive coordinator, took a few veiled shots at the organization ahead of last week’s game, Cousins was nothing but complimentary when asked about his time in Washington.
“The quarterback I am, the player I am and where I am in this league now is largely as a result of the coaches I got to play with there and the way they impacted me, and the teammates I got to play with,” Cousins said during his news conference. “In a way, it’s challenging to play your old team because you have so much respect for the people on the other side of the field.”
Keenum didn’t have the type of longterm connection in Minnesota. He signed a one-year deal as a journeyman backup, then had the best year of his career after replacing Sam Bradford, recording 3,547 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 67.6 completion percentage.
“Case did an awful lot for us here,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “Case was a terrific teammate and we miss him.”