GM to Odell: Giants ‘iconic franchise’
At first, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman waved off any questions Friday regarding a certain player he traded away, saying, “Odell plays for the Cleveland Browns now, and we’re moving on.’’
When a follow-up inquiry about Odell Beckham Jr. was sent his way, Gettleman quickly shot back, “No more Odell questions.’’
That was not the last word on the subject, though. Beckham, in a recent GQ Magazine cover story, said he was responsible for carrying the Giants’ brand through all the losing, and Gettleman was not having any of that.
He laughed. And then spoke.
“You’re leading me down a rabbit hole,’’ he said. “We all know this is an iconic franchise. It’s won four Super Bowls and other World Championships. That’s the brand.’’
The comeback came a day after Eli Manning told NFL Network that he laughed when he heard Beckham’s comments about carrying the brand.
“I won a few games before he was here,’’ Manning said.
➤ The fracture to Sterling Shepard’s left thumb is on the tip of the thumb, prompting coach Pat Shurmur to say, “He’ll be back soon. I’m not concerned about that one at all.’’ Shepard did individual work during practice and afterward caught the ball with his right hand.
➤ With Corey Coleman out for the season after tearing his ACL, the Giants need a kick returner. Shurmur mentioned receivers Cody Latimer, Golden Tate and Brittan Golden as possibilities. Safety Jabrill Peppers likely will be the punt returner and extending him to kickoffs might be a stretch.
“I mean we’d like to find somebody else to at least work at it,’’ Shurmur said. “The one thing about Jabrill is in critical situations, we can certainly put him back there. He’s done it.’’
➤ QB Daniel Jones got off to a slow start Thursday and wasn’t helped by a perfect deep ball that was not secured by WR Bennie Fowler. Asked if Jones can learn from that, Shurmur said: “The guy that needs to learn from that is Bennie. Catch the ball.’’
➤ LB Lorenzo Carter finished his rookie season at 244 pounds and is up to 256 in his second NFL training camp.
“The more weight, the better,’’ said Carter, who happened to be holding a few chocolate chip cookies.