Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield felt like he could play on Thursday night despite a torn labrum in his left shoulder, but the Browns felt otherwise.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Wednesday that Case Keenum will start at quarterback against the Broncos.
“Case Keenum will be our starter tomorrow night and we have full confidence in him to lead us and do the things necessary to put us in position to win,” Stefanski said, via the team’s website. “Baker fought really hard to play, he’s a competitor and obviously wants to be out there but just couldn’t make it on a short week. We know he will continue to do everything in his power to return as quickly as possible.”
The game will mark Keenum’s first start since he was with Washington in the 2019 season and it will provide him a chance to face off with the team he quarterbacked for the entire 2018 campaign. Assuming Teddy Bridgewater‘s foot allows him to start for the Broncos, it will also be a matchup of former teammates as Bridgewater served as a backup to Keenum while returning from a serious knee injury with the Vikings in 2017.