BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was held out of all four of the team’s preseason games and most of the 11-on-11 drills during training camp practices while working his way through a hip issue.
Beckham Jr. returned to full-team drills before the final preseason game, and with the regular season just days away, he was back on the practice field Wednesday morning. If Beckham Jr. remains healthy, he figures to be an integral part of the game plan for Sunday’s home opener against the Tennessee Titans at FirstEnergy Stadium.
“Odell’s ready to go, so yeah, I feel good about the plan,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said prior to Wednesday’s practice.
Kitchens is confident Beckham Jr. is ready to go, and he knows that when healthy, the multi-time Pro Bowl receiver is a game-changer.
Over 59 regular-season games, including 56 starts, in five years with the New York Giants, Beckham Jr. turned 622 targets into 390 receptions for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns. Beckham Jr. averaged 92.8 yards per game, including a league-best 108.8 during the 2014 season.
Beckham Jr. has put four 1,000-yard and three double-digit touchdown seasons on his resume since being selected with a first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Louisiana State University.
Beckham Jr. posted a 77-catch, 1,052-yard, six-touchdown season for the Giants in 2018.
Because the Browns’ first-team offense did not have much work together through training camp and the preseason, Kitchens is “very eager” to see what everything looks like when all of the players are available for practice and games.
“It was nice Monday,” Kitchens said. “We had everybody out there practicing Monday, and in a lot of ways, it looked like a totally different team. We still have to take it to the game on Sunday, but more importantly, we’ve got to take it back to the practice field today and keep preparing.”
Since the roster was reduced to the league-mandated 53-player limit on Saturday, the Browns have had two practices, one on Monday, and again in Berea on Wednesday. While it is a long way to kickoff of Sunday’s game against the Titans, Kitchens has seen a different mindset from his players.
“We wanted to continue to strive to increase the sense of urgency, and I think that’s what you see a lot of times,” Kitchens said.
“‘I’ve got to run this right. I’ve got to run this perfect. I’ve got to throw this perfect. I’ve got to cover this guy with inside leverage. I’ve got to pressure in the B gap.’ The sense of urgency with these guys definitely increased, and it needs to. I think it has been over the past week-and-a-half.”