Bears News: Keenum sees bright futures for Loveland and Bagent

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 4 hours ago

CHICAGO - If Keenum makes the starting roster and plays in an NFL game for the Chicago Bears, it will mark the seventh team he has played for in his over a decade in the league.

He has worked with a lot of coaches and been in a lot of offensive schemes.

Nonetheless, learning head coach Ben Johnson’s offense is rather unique.

“I don’t know if I would compare it to any other offense. This one’s very unique. Ben is very unique in what he’s able to do. There’s some hints and some flavors of some other things that I’ve done before, but this feels more like a greatest hits album when it comes to offenses,” Keenum said. “But, it’s challenging because (the) quarterback’s the most important position and he challenges the quarterback, Ben does. So, I love that. (Quarterback) Caleb (Williams) loves that. We all love that. We want (the) ball in our hands when it matters. That’s why we play quarterback. So, this is a challenging offense because it’s the NFL and to be great, you got to score points.”

Whoever plays at quarterback this season will probably be looking for rookie tight end Colston Loveland.

Loveland has emerged as a good tight end already in training camp and possesses traits that are not typical in rookies.

“He’s friendly to throw to. He’s got good body language. (There’s) that non-verbal communication that lets a quarterback know that he knows where the ball is and should be and has good body position in relation to defenders and then based on what route it is, knows when to be open in a lot of ways,” Keenum said. “So, from a big tall guy like that, it’s really nice to be able to go a lot of different personnels with him and (tight end) Cole (Kmet), both very friendly targets that, I think defenses will have issues when they decide to go man, who to put the linebacker on, who to put a safety on and creates a lot of mismatches for us. So, as he’s worked in there, it’s been really fun and I’ve enjoyed sneaking a few reps with him.”

This season, Keenum finds himself competing to be the backup quarterback behind Williams with third-year quarterback Tyson Bagent.

Competition is inevitable in the NFL and something that Keenum embraces in everything he does, whether it be Uno or the backup quarterback.

“I’m competitive by nature. If it’s pingpong in the locker room, if it’s Uno with my family, I’m trying to win no matter what. So, I feel the fire of competition in whatever I’m doing. I’ve been competing with myself forever. So, that’s who I am. That’s what made me who I am. That’s what’s gotten me here today,” Keenum said. “So, everyday I step on the field, I compete with myself. I compete with those guys and I hope that that brings out the fire in them as well, that we’re sharpening each other. Iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another and that’s a motto I’ve had my entire life and I think we’re all going to be better for it in the long run because of it.”

Right now, it appears Bagent is winning this quarterback battle as the depth chart lists him as the No. 2 quarterback with Keenum as the No. 3 quarterback.

Given how Keenum described Bagent’s performance in training camp, this is not all that surprising.

“I think Tyson’s having a really, really good camp. I think he’s made a step forward from the spring. He’s picking up this offense (excellently). He is sharp. He is really, really smart … We try to stump each other (in the QB room) and we can’t ever get him. He knows the playbook like the back of his hand,” Keenum said. “So, I’ve been very impressed with him. He’s athletic and really haven’t even seen him probably do what he’s really, really good at in escaping rush, making plays outside the pocket. During practice, it’s been a lot of the within the pocket, within the timing of the play, making some really accurate plays down the field and I think he’s going to play a long time in this league.”