BECK' TO NORMAL
Giants have no concerns over OBJ's surgically repaired ankle, contract
The Giants don’t believe they have any reason to be worried about Odell Beckham Jr.’s surgically repaired left ankle. The potential of their star receiver holding out for a new contact doesn’t seem to concern the team, either.
“I’m not worried about it, and neither is he,” first-year head coach Pat Shurmur said. “I look at a player that loves football. He’s out there right now doing his thing, and he wants to be here. As the coach and the player, that’s what we talk about it.
“What I’m concerned about, as the coach, is my relationship with him, and him learning as much as he can through this offseason, so that when we get going, he’s ready to go. Our job as coaches is to get him trained up and put him on the field. That’s what we worry about. This isn’t the first time in the NFL we’ve talked about a player and a contract. We just keep moving. We keep developing our relationship, within what’s going on, and we move forward. That’s where it’s at.”
Entering his fifth season — the final year of his rookie contract — Beckham is seeking a new deal, which would make him the NFL’s highest paid wide receiver. But, as expected, the 25-yearold joined his teammates on the field Tuesday for the first day of a mandatory three-day minicamp.
Though Beckham — who hasn’t played in a game since Oct. 8 — was limited in the spring, when he attended organized team activity practices, Tuesday the receiver caught passes, and punts while participating in individual drills.
According to Shurmur, Beckham is “cleared to practice,” and didn’t note any current restrictions, but Beckham didn’t participate in team drills Tuesday. Shurmur was noncommittal when asked if Beckham could return to team drills this week, but it is possible the receiver is held out from them until training camp begins in late July.
“Everybody’s at different phases of their training,” Shurmur said. “He was cleared to train and he did a good job.”
Beckham’s absence from team drills doesn’t appear to be tied to his impending negotiations with the Giants. Even if it was, fellow receiver Sterling Shepard wouldn’t have an issue with it.
“That’s the tough thing about this. He doesn’t want to be away from the team. He wants everything to be worked out, but that’s the nature of the business,” Shepard said. “You have the business side of it. There’s things that guys want to take care of before they step on the field, so you can’t knock him for that either.”
In meetings, Shepard said he has helped Beckham with any questions he’s had about the new offense. On the field, Shepard believes the star is already back to full speed.
“He looked good. I swear, I forget that he got hurt sometimes,” Shepard said. “No doubt in my mind, I’ve never seen a guy work as hard as him and want it as much as him. There’s no doubt in my mind he’ll be back, and you’ll be seeing [No.] 13 light it up in the stadium.”
Eli Manning worked with Beckham briefly, and also didn’t notice any lingering physical issues with his top target.
“He ran maybe three or four routes, but he looks good coming out of his breaks,” Manning said. “From what I have seen, he looks sharp and ready to go.”