Browns Players (1.9.22)
QB Case Keenum & RB D’Ernest Johnson:
On winning both of his starts this season:
Keenum: “It felt pretty good. Winning is always better than the other. The Food tastes better. The music sounds better like I have talked to you guys about. Anytime you end the season on a win, it feels really, really good.”
On RB D’Ernest Johnson’s performance:
Keenum: “I have a great view after I go on my fake there, turn around and see him run it. (RB Nick) Chubb and I joked actually about D’Ernest’s and I’s connection more so than me and him (laughter). I will ride with this guy any day. He is a worker. He sat at home all week [while on the reserve/COVID-19 list], showed up today for work and brought it. It was impressive to watch. I know you all enjoyed it. I enjoyed it, as well. I couldn’t be more proud and just so happy for this dude. He works his tail off, and he deserves everything that is coming to him.”
On his future, given his performance this year and that the Browns have RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt on the roster:
Johnson: “Right now, I am just enjoying the moment and all of my teammates. After this, I am going to hang out with my teammates, and I will let my agent to take care of all the other stuff. Right now, I am just enjoying the moment with all of the guys.”
On his week was leading up to the game:
Johnson: “It was tough because I wanted to go out there and spend this last week with the guys at practice and hang out with all of those guys in practice. I was at home watching film, studying and doing little things on the side just to get me ready and prepare for today. We just went out there and got a W.”
On if he has had a chance to reflect on his season and career, including the adversity:
Johnson: “I have not. I just had that next game mentality as coach was saying. It was just preparing for the next week and trying to be better than what I was last week. That is how I have been looking at this whole season.”
Keenum: “I have a question. That one drive, did we hand it to him nine times in a row? Is that correct? Can somebody fact-check me on that? How did it feel? Because you did not even seem tired to me after the eighth handoff in a row. How did you come in after a week like this and get that done?
Johnson: “I was just doing little things on the side.”
Keenum: “How many push-ups did you do at home?”
Johnson: “A lot (laughter). I was just doing little things on the side to get me prepared for today. That is what I was doing was just doing a lot of running. I did a lot of band [work].”
Keenum: “What little things did you do on the side? Did you go to the park and run? Did you do sprints? Did you get in the backyard?”
Johnson: “I did a lot of band work. Just ready.”
On if today’s performance showed what the Browns offense can look like when it is clicking:
Keenum: “I think so. When it is rolling, it is rolling. You all saw this year, when it was good, it was really good. It is hard. You have to give other teams a lot of credit who prepare against us and look for tendencies. It is hard. It is a tough league, but when you have the offensive line that we have and how well they played tonight, I think the only sack was my bad decision tonight. You can stay ahead of the chains when you are running the ball for whatever it is per carry, and you are starting out at second-and-4 a lot of times or second-and-2. When you are able to do that, you feel this momentum that we are moving forward and we are on our toes going forward and they are on their on their heels. Having all of the backs that we have with that line, the tight ends who block, (FB) Andy (Janovich) and all of those guys, it is a lot for defenses to prepare. I think it was a little taste of it.”
On how his preparation changed this week while missing practice on the reserve/COVID-19 list:
Johnson: “First of all, I am well-rested and my body felt good. At the same time, I was doing a lot of different band work and preparing myself, just being ready for the opportunity. Every opportunity I try to take advantage of it, and that is what I did at the end of the day. The offense did a great job, the line did a great job and everybody did a great job overall as a team.”
On how tired he was toward the end of today’s game when Chubb spelled him with a long carry:
Johnson: “I was tired. I ran off the field. ‘You have to go in.’ I was tired.”
On the vibe of the Browns at the end of the season and today’s game:
Keenum: “Anytime you win in this league, it is tough. I don’t care who you are playing, when you are playing or how you are playing, winning is hard. I have been around long enough to know that you enjoy the heck out of every win. It is hard to be retrospective right now and look back. Yeah, in the next few weeks when we are sitting at home and watching the playoff games, that is probably when it will hit a little bit more for me, knowing some of the opportunities that we passed up. It is tough. You learn, you grow and you move on. We have a lot of really good pieces to build on and a lot of guys who are really hungry and have been left with that taste in their mouth of not getting where we want to be. I think that will motivate guys for offseason workouts, for OTAs or whatever is coming this offseason to be ready to take full advantage of it next year.”
On the significance of this game and win for him personally and the team:
Keenum: “I think it is great. To go 2-0 against the division champs and to finish the year on a win, like I said, everything is better after a win. I think a lot of guys got some great opportunities tonight. I think a lot of people touched the ball. This cat (Johnson) ran the rock tonight. That is always fun. Good momentum going into the offseason.”
On WR Jarvis Landry closing the season with a receiving TD today:
Keenum: “That was great. He is one of the greats that I have played with and one of my favorites of all of the receivers I have played with. To get a chance to get out there and have some big plays to him, including the touchdown and the third down, when he is rolling, he is rolling. I am very thankful and honored to be one of the guys who has gotten to throw him a touchdown.”
On what this opportunity meant to him at a later stage of his career than Johnson:
Keenum: “I told the guys before the game, anytime you step on the field and they film it – the coaches film it – that is building your résumé in the National Football League. I do not care if you’re on special teams, defense or offense, and I don’t care what the point of the game, the time of the season and nobody cares what the weather is, people around the league in our building and other buildings watch that and that is your résumé. That says who you are and what you can do in this league. For me, every time I step on the field, I know that, I am trying my absolute best and I am preparing the hardest I can. I think that showed today. I think we had to fight for it. Those guys fought on the other side. I made a few mistakes that kept them in the game. We fought and put some good stuff on our résumé today.”
DE Jadeveon Clowney:
On if he was thinking he was going to score on the strip-sack:
“I was really just thinking to get the ball. I did not even know he (Bengals QB Brandon Allen) lost it back there at first. When I hit him, I did not think he had the ball. When I saw it, I tried to get my hands on it. I saw their receiver coming, but stuff happens.”
On how much grief he received from teammates following the play:
“A lot. You know how it is. (CB) A.J. (Green) cracking jokes at me on the sideline, but it is fun. Having fun out there.”
On how his body feels after the full season:
“Better than it has in the past. It is a good thing. Taking care a lot better. The older I get, I guess the more I pay attention to it. Listen to my body more than I have in the past.”
On his hopes for next year and if money is a motivator in determining where he plays next:
“Always. Especially coming out of this, you are playing at a high level, and you want to get paid like it. I had a couple of years that I have been hurt, but I always thought I was playing well. I have just been injured. I just want to make it through a year healthy and show people I can play at a high level and stay healthy. That was my goal this year was be in a healthier place than I have been the last few years. I think I reached that. Going into the offseason, I am already ahead of the curve. I do not have anything to get fixed and no injuries right now. Just trying to take care of myself and get ready for next season.”
On if he will simply sign with whatever team offers him the most money:
“I am not saying that right now, but what I am saying is that it is about money – not about the most – but it is [also] about being comfortable in the right place, the guys around you and all of that comes into play when you decide where to go.”
On what it means that DE Myles Garrett has said he wants him in Cleveland:
“It means a lot. I talk to him all of the time. We have become real good guys and close to each other because we play together. I pick his brain, and he picks mine. We feed off each other out there. It is a good thing to have someone on the other end that you do not worry about. You are just like, ‘Hey, I will meet you there [at the quarterback].”
On finishing the season healthy and making plays:
“It shows people, no matter what the circumstances – we are not in the playoffs or anything – I just really love this game of football. I do not care if [we are] 0-and-whatever, I go out there and play the same way in a game. I just love to play this game. Do not take it for granted. It can come and go like this. I have been on the other end of this and the opposite end of it, never get to play some games or miss them. I just want to be out there, playing at high level with my teammates.”
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