'Besides his' big fortitude: Mike Zimmer details his confidence in Case Keenum

[purplefaithful]

When describing his confidence in quarterback Case Keenum, coach Mike Zimmer went back to the notorious line he dropped in November after the Vikings’ 24-7 win against the Rams.
Case Keenum turns 30 years old next month. He’s already won 20 of his 38 NFL starts, so Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said Wednesday he isn’t too concerned about his quarterback’s lack of playoff experience.
“Obviously you would like to have a Hall of Fame quarterback playing for you,” Zimmer said. “I think the thing about all these guys [is] at one point in time [they] never had playoff experience, at one point in time. I think that part is important, but once you get into it, it doesn’t really matter on game day.
“The things we’ve done during the season offensively with the quarterback: taking care of the ball, throwing it to the right spot, getting us in the right checks, so on and so forth, are more important than playoff experience.”
Only six quarterbacks finished the 2017 regular season with a better passer rating than Keenum (98.3). Among them is the Saints’ Drew Brees, who put together one of the best seasons of his Hall of Fame career with an all-time best 72 percent completion, career-low 1.5 percent interception rate and the fourth-most passing yards (4,334) in the league.
http://www.startribune.com/besides-his-b...468654283/

[Guest]

When describing his confidence in Keenum, Zimmer went back to the line he first dropped in November after the Vikings’ 24-7 win against the Rams about Keenum’s, uh, big intestinal fortitude.
“He’s an excitable guy, but he’s always been excitable, so I don’t see that being much of a thing,” Zimmer said. “The thing I appreciate about him is, besides his big balls, is that he pays attention to detail. He studies. He works real hard in preparation and so I think all of those things come in to factor.”

[Guest]

Sounds to me like Zim no longer thinks Case is just lucky.

[Guest]

@HappyViking said:
Sounds to me like Zim no longer thinks Case is just lucky.

Z can be impulsive and he's not an offensive guy....so the horseshoe comment was Z being Z. But if you think Keenum has been lucky all year long, its just silly. He hasn't and Zimmer has seen that now in the video breakdowns. Every QB has thrown interceptable balls, every game. 

[Guest]

I look for Case to have a good game Sunday...

He's not HOF, Brees caliber, but still very capable of doing a lot to help us win this Divisional Game.  

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:
When describing his confidence in Keenum, Zimmer went back to the line he first dropped in November after the Vikings’ 24-7 win against the Rams about Keenum’s, uh, big intestinal fortitude.
“He’s an excitable guy, but he’s always been excitable, so I don’t see that being much of a thing,” Zimmer said. “The thing I appreciate about him is, besides his big balls, is that he pays attention to detail. He studies. He works real hard in preparation and so I think all of those things come in to factor.”

Kinda funny how a little tough love from Zimmer may have helped Keenum excel this year.  Up through the Washington game, Keenum played ok and was prone to an occasional bonehead play.  But at that point, Teddy was nearing his return and Zimmer wouldn't commit to Case.  He even called out Case as being selfish against the Redskins.

Now he is praising his attention to detail, his preparation. 

And if you look at stats, Case really started playing well after that game.  His game really turned IMO and I think Zimmer's approach had something to do with it.