Lions plan on Beckham Jr. playing
EAST RUTHERFORD, N. J. » Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell isn’t wasting time worrying whether Odell Beckham Jr. will play for the New York Giants.
When Caldwell drew up his game plan for Monday night’s contest between the Lions ( 1- 0) and Giants ( 0- 1) at Met Life Stadium, therewas a section for dealing with the catalyst of the Giants’ offense.
If Beckham’s sprained left ankle keeps him out of a second straight game, the Lions have other plans.
Heading into the game, it looks like Beckham will play. The threetime Pro Bowler practiced on a limited basis this week for the first time since hurting his ankle in a preseason game on Aug. 21. He moved well in the parts of practice that themedia were able to watch, and Friday he caught some passes and made cuts in a red- zone drill.
He was listed as questionable in Saturday’s final injury report. His status for the game will be de--
termined in warmups Monday night.
“We look at it as if we anticipate that he’s going to play,” Caldwell said. “We go at it that way. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t, and we adjust.”
The Giants did very little on offense without Beckham last week, gaining 233 yards in a 19- 3 loss to the Cowboys.
“They ’ re good with or without him, but he is a dynamic player,” Lions safety Glover Quin said, referring to Beckham, who has led the Giants in receiving in each of his first three seasons.
“When you add him to the mix, obviously that changes things up a lot. But regardless, they got weapons all over the field and a two- time Super Bowl MVP quarterback, so they’re a talented group. Odell just adds to it.”
Quin said there was no doubt that Beckham would pass up the chance to play in a home opener in prime time.
“You just have to understand where he’s at,” Quin said. “He’s an explosive guy. He can turn a short pass into a long touchdown. He demands different type of attention because he is so dynamic. There’s certain things you may do with coverages and schemes, and calls you may make could be affected by if he’s on the field, or if he’s not. But you always got to prepare like he’s going to be there. And if he’s not, we’ll adjust.”