CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. seemed to catch the lion’s share of the blame for the way his tenure with the New York Giants ended with a mid-March trade, but the past is in the past and there is nothing the Pro Bowl pass catcher can do except be his playmaking self between the lines.
Fellow Browns receiver Jarvis Landry knows Beckham Jr. better than anybody within the locker room, as they were teammates at LSU, and while he understands the situation with the Giants weighs on his long-time friend, there is no question about his readiness for game day.
“I’m sure it weighs on anybody, being alienated in a sense,” Landry said Thursday. “I think that weighs on any person who is misunderstood and cares in most cases. We’re happy he’s here. He’s put everything behind him. He’s put his best foot forward. We’re excited to see him make plays.
“We have a great locker room, so this kind of feels like a bigger brotherhood, and it is a fraternity. It allows us to get close to each other as far as just learning about each other, understanding that sometimes, you are misunderstood and people create this perception of you. You get around these guys and show him who you really are, and they love you for it, they respect you for it and we move past it and we just play.”
Beckham Jr. spent much of training camp working through individual drills but staying out of 11-on-11 plays because of a hip issue, and while he has been a full participant in practice in the last two weeks, there is a growing opinion within the locker room that the best is yet to come.
“Especially with what I have had going on, I have just been kind of afraid to open it,” Beckham Jr. said. “I would rather get to Sunday and open up than to be running around and handle myself before the game.
“This is something I never had to deal with. It is like an extremely fast car with a little alignment or something off and it is like right in the center of what you need. The car can still go, but it is dangerous. It is just something that I have been trying to figure out in and out of rehab every single day. Never really dealt with anything like that.”
Over 59 regular-season games, including 56 starts, in five years with the 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.
Beckham Jr. posted a 77-catch, 1,052-yard, six-touchdown season for the Giants in 2018.
Having seen for a long time what Beckham Jr. is capable of, Landry is not worried about his lack of practice time with the first-team offense.
“He’s probably still running the fastest in the room right now,” Landry said. “It’s tough to tell, but he’s a competitor. He’s going to be ready for Sunday and that’s what we’re looking forward to.
“Obviously, his health is most important, but I know when the ball is lined up on Sunday, he’s going to be ready and he’s going to give the team all he’s got.”