Keenum is enjoying the competition with third-year pro Tyson Bagent for the No. 2 spot behind Williams.
“It’s been great,” said Keenum, who has passed for 15,175 yards and 79 TDs in 12 NFL seasons with the Texans (2013-14, 2023), Rams (2015-16), Vikings (2017), Broncos (2018), Commanders (2019), Browns (2020-21) and Bills (2022).
“I think Tyson’s having a really, really good camp. He’s made a step forward from the spring. He’s picking up this offense excellent. He is sharp. He is really, really smart. We try to ‘Stump the Schwab’ with him in there in the QB room. Him and Austin [Reed] and Caleb, we try to stump each other and man, we can’t ever get him. He knows the playbook like the back of his hand. I’ve been very impressed with him.
“He’s athletic and haven’t even really seen him probably do what he’s really, really good at in escaping the rush, making plays outside the pocket. During practice, it’s been a lot of within-the-pocket, within-the-timing-of-the-play, making some really accurate plays down the field. I think he’s going to play a long time in this league.”
Even after more than a decade in the league, Keenum still feels a competitive fire.
“I’m competitive by nature,” he said. “If it’s ping pong in the locker room, if it’s Uno with my family, I’m trying to win no matter what. I feel the fire of competition with whatever I’m doing. I’ve been competing with myself forever. That’s who I am. That’s what made me who I am. That’s what’s gotten me here today. Every day I step on the field, I compete with myself, I compete with those guys, and I hope that brings out the fire in them as well.”
Doyle lauded the rapport the quarterbacks have developed with each other.
“They all mesh really well together,” he said. “It’s a group that likes being around each other. The room itself is fun to be in. Caleb is progressing. Case provides that veteran leadership, and he’s got skins on the wall. He’s been in a bunch of different systems, and he feels like a coach when you’re in there sitting with him. He’s able to provide a lot of perspective. And Tyson is very hungry. Football’s the most important thing [to him].
“It’s a great dynamic. It’s a great room. They’re very open to learning and correcting their mistakes.”
No one on the Bears roster is more grateful to be in the NFL than Bagent, who signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023 after starring at Division II Shepherd University in West Virginia.
“I think my journey, especially since I’ve gotten here, it’s been nothing short of amazing,” Bagent said. “I’m extremely blessed to be in the situation I’m in. I could sit here and start bawling my eyes out. But I’m absolutely beside myself every day that I wake up that this is what I get to do.
“And especially with how everything has unfolded, how ready I feel right now, being gifted with this amazing staff, it just seems like things oddly enough keep working out in my favor. I’m full steam ahead and really grateful and excited for everything.”
Bagent sees first-year coach Ben Johnson as a kindred spirit.
“Really for me, it’s simple: there’s no BSing going on right now,” Bagent said. “I like to have as much fun as I possibly can outside of this building, but when I’m here, I’m pretty much [thinking], ‘What are we going to do today, what are we going to accomplish?’ And looking at him, whether it’s getting a play from him, talking to him between plays, he’s right there with me intensity-wise, which is all you can ask for from a head coach.”
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