ENGLEWOOD – For all you youngsters out there, those occasional high throws that came out of Case Keenum’s hand during his first two preseason games as the Broncos’ quarterback?
Blame his feet.
Keenum said mechanically, his footwork was unsettled in the pocket and it caused his throws to sail, particularly on his two end-zone attempts to a wide-open Emmanuel Sanders and open-enough DaeSean Hamilton against the Bears on Saturday
“Quarterbacks start with their feet,’’ Keenum said. “You wouldn’t think it. But that’s the first thing I tell kids when I’m offering advice to a young quarterback. You’re a young quarterback out there, train your feet and your eyes, and your arm will follow.”
I heard something similar before. It was while I was covering the Colorado Rockies in the 1990s. Walt Weiss, the team’s shortstop, used to go to the Doyle baseball camp when he was a kid.
The Doyle brothers – Denny, Brian and Blake – used to preach playing infield starts with the feet. Weiss was always working on his footwork during pregame infield. He said he got the feet business from the Doyles.
And footwork is what Keenum was working on, among other things, during practice Monday at UCHealth Training Center.
“Those balls that I said I want them back?’’ Keenum said, referring to his postgame press conference against the Bears. “Looking back, my feet weren’t as good as they normally are in pocket.’’
Through Keenum’s remarkable journey – his breakout season with the Vikings last year; the Vikings declining to bring him back; becoming a free agent signing a two-year, $36 million “bridge” contract with
the Broncos; becoming a franchise quarterback for the first time and leading that franchise through OTAs, minicamp, training camp and halfway through the preseason – he has arrived at the final dress rehearsal.
The Broncos play at Washington this Friday with the starters expected to play at least a half.
Then there’s no more games for Keenum and company until the regular-season opener September 9 against the Seattle Seahawks. So far, he is 9 of 17 for 83 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions through two preseason games.
“I like where we’re at, I do -- I really do -- as an offense,’’ he said. “I think there’s always stuff we can do better and we worked on a lot of that today. I think we’re getting better as an offense and that’s where I want to be. I want to be better every time we step on the field and I think we’ve done that.”
