Beckham out for ’20 with torn ACL
The Browns began bracing for life without three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on Sunday in Cincinnati, and now they know they will experience it.
After Beckham had an MRI on his left knee Monday morning, he texted reporter Josina Anderson and revealed he suffered a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament early in the Browns’ 37-34 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
A Browns spokesman firmed the injury.
It’s the second major knee injury for a high-profile Browns player this season. Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb suffered a right medial collateral ligament injury Oct. 4 in a 49-38 win over the Dallas Cowboys. He remains on injured reserve but will return this season.
So the Browns (5-2) could be without Beckham, Chubb and two-time Pro Bowl tight end Austin Hooper, who had an appendectomy Friday, when they host the Las Vegas Raiders (3-3) on Sunday.
Beckham’s injury occurred with 8:21 remaining in the first quarter of Sunday’s win while Beckham chased cornerback Darius Phillips on his 21-yard interception return. Phillips had picked off quarterback Baker Mayfield’s first pass of the game on a deep ball intended for Beckham along the right sideline.
Beckham appeared to get a cleat caught in the turf at Paul Brown Stadium as he tried to tackle Phillips and avoid a collision with fullback Andy Janovich. Beckham immediately crumbled to the ground and grabbed his left knee. He went to the locker room under his own power with medical personnel, but he Browns ruled out him out for the remainder of the game early in the second quarter.
Beckham’s teammates showed an outpouring of support for him on social media Sunday night and spoke about him in somber tones after the game.
Mayfield explained he felt responsible for the injury because it happened right after he threw a pick.
“It sucks. No words,” Mayfield said on Zoom. “I would be lying to say that I wasn’t beating myself up about it. To go into halftime and see him, and I told him I love him, and he said, ‘ Go be great.’ That was what he left me with to open up the second half. That was something I continued to remember throughout the second half.”
Mayfield caught fire after beginning the game 0-of-5 passing. He set a franchise record with 21 consecutive completions and tied another club record with five touchdown passes, one of which was the game-winning 24-yard scoring strike to rookie sixth-round draft pick Donovan Peoples-Jones with 11 seconds left to play.
Afterward in the locker room, linebacker B.J. Goodson approached Beckham in the locker room.
“I went back and talked to him and just told him that I was with him and I’m praying for him,” Goodson said via Zoom. “He’s not on this journey alone. Especially guys who have been through injuries, we understand.”
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Beckham, who will turn 28 on Nov. 5, has endured injuries for most of his seven-year NFL career. After former Browns General Manager John Dorsey acquired him in March 2019 via a trade with the New York Giants, Beckham played with a core muscle injury throughout last season. He had surgery in January.
In August 2018, Beckham signed a five-year, $90 million contract extension with the Giants, who drafted him 12th overall in 2014 out of Louisiana State University. Although he’s under contract with the Browns through the 2023 season, Beckham’s future with the franchise is anything but certain. His base salary this year is $14 million, followed by $14.5 million next season and $13.75 million in each of the final two years of his deal.
Ultimately, GM Andrew Berry must decide whether Beckham and Mayfield will continue their quest to consistently get on the same page, a goal that has eluded the duo thus far.
Beckham caught 23 passes on 43 targets for 319 yards and three touchdowns and added three carries for 72 yards and a TD.
He lifted the Browns to a 49-38 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 4, when he caught five passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns (one from Mayfield and another from close friend and
fellow receiver Jarvis Landry) and rushed for a 50-yard TD on an end around in crunch time.
Playing hurt last season, Beckham had 74 catches on 133 targets for 1,035 yards and four touchdowns. The lack of elite production disappointed Beckham, and it weighed on the Browns as they flopped en route to a record of 610.
Without Beckham, Landry will ascend to a clear-cut role as the Browns’ No. 1 receiver. Rashard Higgins and Peoples-Jones are behind him in the receiver pecking order.
A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Landry is playing through a broken rib suffered Oct. 11 in a 32-23 win over the Indianapolis Colts. He had five catches on six targets for 48 yards against the Bengals (1-5-1). Higgins had six catches on six targets for a career-high 110 yards, and Peoples-Jones had three catches on three targets for 56 yards and a touchdown.
The only other receiver on the active roster is Taywan Taylor, who was inactive Sunday.
KhaDarel Hodge is now eligible to return from injured reserve after spending three games on the list with a hamstring injury suffered during warm-ups before the Cowboys game. He was the team’s No. 3 receiver at the time.