ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Emmanuel Sanders' new quarterback is no stranger to him.
When Sanders played at Southern Methodist, he fell victim to Keenum and the Houston Cougars' attack on a couple of occasions.
In 2008, Keenum threw a 26-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds left to guide Houston to a 44-38 win. He finished that contest 28-of-36 for 404 yards and a 184.8 quarterback rating.
A year later, Keenum completed 25-of-36 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown in a 38-15 win.
After that pair of performances in their head-to-head matchups, it's safe to say Sanders is glad to have Keenum on his side.
"I love it," Sanders said Monday. "I was just talking to him, and I told him, 'Man, we've had some great battles.' When I went to SMU and he was at U of H, he was slinging the ball around. I'm happy to have him here [and] to have a new quarterback — someone who can sling the football and throw it and loves to throw it and also [is] smart enough to handle the whole playbook."
But as the Broncos return for the start of their offseason workout program, Sanders said he doesn't yet have a feel for how successful the new pairing will be in 2018.
"Everybody's been asking me how I feel about him," Sanders said. "I don't really know yet, until we get here and see the chemistry and truthfully, it's on us. It's on Case and the other quarterbacks and the wide receivers to get on the same page and turn this thing around. It's all about … putting the work in, and it starts tomorrow."
Just how long will that chemistry take to develop?
"Nobody knows," Sanders admitted Monday. "But at the same time, it's all about working at it and having a common goal. So we're going to set that, and we're going to work toward it every single day."
