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Case Keenum tells reporters that he’s a big Teddy Bridgewater fan and says that he raises the “cool factor of the quarterback group.”

LANDOVER, Maryland — The Minnesota Vikings are 7-2 and Case Keenum has started seven of the games as their quarterback.

You had that, right? Back in August, when you were making your NFL season predictions, you had the Vikings at 7-2 with Keenum the quarterback? Sure you did.

You probably also had the New Orleans Saints at 7-2, rolling into Buffalo in Week 10 and hanging 47 on the No. 6-ranked scoring defense without a single Drew Brees touchdown pass.

And you had both of those teams a game behind the 8-1 Philadelphia Eagles, with the Los Angeles Rams duking it out atop the NFC West with the Seattle Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers comfortably between those first-place Saints and the third-place Atlanta Falcons in the South.

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If you did predict all of this — heck, if you predicted any of it — we’d like your thoughts on this week’s lottery numbers. And by “we,” I mean me and Case Keenum, who seems as amused about what’s going on with him and the Vikings as anyone.

“Just feels good, is all,” Keenum said after throwing for 304 yards, four touchdowns and two keep-em-in-the-game second-half interceptions in the Vikings’ 38-30 victory over Washington here Sunday. “I love this squad, I love this team, I love this offense, I love these coaches and we’re having fun.”

Yeah, 7-2 is fun, no doubt, and the Vikings are feeling no pain right now. They’ve won five games in a row, increasing their point total each week, and hold a two-game lead in the NFC North on both the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. This past week, they put Week 1 starting quarterback Sam Bradford on injured reserve and activated former starter Teddy Bridgewater. The latter’s return to the starting lineup might feel like a foregone conclusion to lots of folks around the team, and certainly to most on the outside. But career backup Keenum doesn’t seem too bothered by any of it.

“Teddy’s a fan favorite. He’s my favorite, too,” Keenum said. “I may have a Teddy Bridgewater jersey at home. Teddy definitely raises the cool factor of the quarterback group. Tremendously.”

That’s Keenum, talking about the guy everybody thinks is about to take his job. That’s where the Vikings are right now. They’re 7-2 and don’t seem all the way sure about how.

“Case played outstanding,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said, then in the next breath, “I wish the two throws he had in the second half he would not have made. But you know, he’s an excitable guy and he needs to understand what are the good plays and what are the bad plays sometimes.”

Said Keenum the Excitable: “I need to not make a bad play worse. I gave them a couple of gifts.”

You wonder, looking ahead, how long this can last. The Vikings play two very tough games in the next 11 days — home this Sunday to the first-place Rams and then at Detroit on Thanksgiving. Two straight road games in Atlanta and Carolina follow that, and by the time they’re through that gauntlet we’ll have some better idea about how good the Vikings are, what their best option is at quarterback and what their chances are of becoming the first team to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium.

It’s not crazy to imagine this team as a real contender. The Vikings made the playoffs as division champs two years ago and started 5-0 last season before a brutal run of injury attrition on the offensive line cost them any chance of making good on that. They hit the line hard in free agency, brought back the core of a smothering defense, and their wide receiver duo of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs makes a case as the very best in the NFL. You could convince yourself that they’re a quarterback away, but the way Keenum’s playing, that may be underselling them.

“Yeah, wins, they all count the same,” Vikings safety Harrison Smith said. “Obviously, from a defensive side, we don’t want to give up that many points, so there’s a lot of work to be done there. But a win’s a win. We did enough to win.”

Lance Dunbar was added to the Los Angeles Rams’ active roster Saturday and is expected to serve as the new backup for star running back Todd Gurley, a need in the wake of Malcolm Brown’s recent knee injury.

Dunbar, who spent the previous five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, was signed as a free agent but missed the entirety of the offseason program and training camp because of a pre-existing knee issue. He began the year on the physically unable to perform list, but has been practicing with the Rams over the last two weeks.

Dunbar won’t have much of a workload, given that Gurley ranks third in the NFL with 190 touches and gadget receiver Tavon Austin has acted as something of a change-of-pace running back. But Dunbar has proven to be effective catching passes out of the backfield and could also play a role on special teams.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Martellus Bennett disputes that the Green Bay Packers should have released him with the “failure to disclose a physical condition” designation.

The veteran tight end was cut on Wednesday and claimed off waivers by the New England Patriots on Thursday.

Bennett signed a three-year, $21 million contract that included a $6.3 million signing bonus in free agency. He played in just seven games for the Packers.

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  Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett, formerly of the Packers, has been playing with a torn rotator cuff and torn labrum.

Bennett used his Instagram Story — the same avenue he used to post during the bye week that he was “pretty sure” he would retire after this season — to tell his side of the story.

“The packers examined my shoulder on my visit March 10 and cleared it,” he wrote. “They even gave me an xray as well. It got worse during the season, specifically against the Cowboys so I asked to have it checked out and we checked it. After a few days of contemplating to play with it or get surgery, I chose surgery. Now here we are …”

Bennett, however, passed his physical with the Patriots on Friday and was on the practice field. Still, he posted that he wasn’t happy that the Packers’ longtime team physician Dr. Pat McKenzie allegedly encouraged him to play. McKenzie, however, has long been known as one of the most conservative doctors around the league.

“They tried to f— me over,” Bennett continued on his Instagram story. “Dr. McKenzie trying to cover his own ass. After trying to persuade me to play thru a major injury and choosing to get surgery.

“They have access to all my medical records. My shoulder wasn’t where it is now at the beginning of the season. I f—– it up playing for the @packers.”

“Dr. McKenzie didn’t make [me] feel safe and was pushing to play, which I thought was weird. Not that he was trying to get me to play thru it but the way he was saying things. I didn’t trust him. So I got 3 other opinions from doctors who all said I need to get it fixed. So I decided to do that. And they decided to waive me the some bulls— excuse. Failure [to] disclose.

“Every week we do a body evaluation sheet in the weight room and pretty much every week I circled my shoulder. I just kept playing but it got worse.

“During the bye week I got off anti inflammatories to clean my system and could really feel the pain. So I asked to examine it first day back in. And that’s when we found out it was really f– up.”

“They knew.

“They panicked. Thinking that I was trying to go on IR and be on their books next year. When I mentioned that I would possible retire. So they tried to f— me before they thought I would f— them. This was all about money.”

“All about money. I get it. But don’t lie homie. You knew wtf was up.

“I had intentions of playing all 8 games as I mentioned in the post during the bye week, but found out it was worse than I felt after getting it checked out.

“Now I’m like f— it.

“I chose my health over the ‘team’. They chose money over me.”

The first public hint of a shoulder injury came after Bennett returned from the bye week. He practiced with the team during their first workout Tuesday but was on the field the next day and later showed up on the injury report.

The Packers did not have any comment after Bennett’s post, but Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson posted a statement on Twitter later on Friday to defend the organization and the medical team.

Earlier on Friday coach Mike McCarthy addressed the situation.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Teddy Bridgewater is determined to leave any trepidation on the sideline whenever his first in-game snap comes after more than a year away from the game.

The Vikings quarterback said he never doubted that he would one day be able to resume his career where he left off after dislocating his left knee and tearing multiple ligaments at the end of the 2016 preseason. After 14 months of intense physical rehabilitation and training for his return, the mental hurdles of being back in a game where he’s susceptible to injury aren’t an issue for the quarterback.

“I honestly think I’m over them,” Bridgewater said. “I think I’m a mentally strong guy and the guys in this locker room helped reassure that.”

As part of his journey forward, Bridgewater has taken the time to reflect upon the struggles he faced in his recovery. He does so by pointing to times where he needed assistance to do everyday tasks like put his pants on or walk by himself. While some deeper self-actualization will eventually come once he’s progressed further, the quarterback hasn’t let seeing the spot on the field where he went down in practice take away from his focus.

“Once I get out there, in between those lines, I have no regrets, no doubt, I’m just out there living my dream, continuing to live my dream,” he said. “I pay no attention to the spot. I pay no attention to the play-action I did that day. Just give it my all. If it’s part of God’s plan, I’m all for it.”

This Sunday, Bridgewater will serve as a backup to Case Keenum against Washington. The last time Bridgewater entered a game as a non-starter came during his rookie season in 2014. Though the discussion of Bridgewater regaining his role as the starter will ramp up in coming weeks, the quarterback says he’s not focused on the switch right now.