Laura Rutledge is at Soldier Field with the rest of the ESPN crew for their coverage of “Monday Night Football.” The 1-1 Chicago Bears host the 2-0 Philadelphia Eagles in the highly anticipated NFC primetime showdown.
Before kickoff, Rutledge caught up with Bears veteran Case Keenum, who got the nod from head coach Ben Johnson to start against the Eagles. Keenum has temporarily taken over the starting quarterback role for Chicago after Caleb Williams suffered a Grade 2 hamstring injury.
The Bears’ backup QB, Tyson Bagent, suffered a concussion in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings. He was cleared to play against the Eagles, but Johnson decided to turn to Keenum for Monday’s game.
In her sideline interview, Rutledge pointed out that this is Keenum’s first NFL game since 2023.
“It’s been a thousand and nine days since you last played,” Rutledge told Keenum.
“You had to remind me of that, huh?” the Bears QB responded. “You had to remind me of that.”
“Sorry,” Rutledge apologized, smiling.
The ESPN sportscaster proceeded with her live interview, asking Keenum what it feels like to be back on the field.
“Are you kidding me?” he said. “I just hugged my family. Had a great week of practice with the boys. I’ve enjoyed every minute of this. I really have.”
Rutledge then asked what it meant to play in front of his family.
“It means everything,” Keenum continued. “It’s incredible. We always say, ‘Keenums can do hard things.’ So we’ll do some hard things tonight, and hopefully I can show them how it’s done.”
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Keenum’s performance against the Eagles could significantly affect his role for the team in the coming weeks. Williams is expected to miss up to four weeks with his hamstring injury. Bagent, though, no longer has an injury designation and should be available to start in their next game.
Keenum started his NFL career with the Houston Texans back in 2012. The 38-year-old has also had stints with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills.
He re-signed with the Bears on a two-year, $5.5 million contract during the offseason.
Keenum is off to a hot start against the Eagles. As of this writing, he has already logged 10-of-12 completed passes for 74 yards and one touchdown. The Bears are up 7-0 with nine minutes left in the second quarter.
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