Beckham Jr. out for season
Receiver hasn't been producing like he did with Giants, but it's still a blow for Browns
OBJ is going on IR with an ACL tear.
Odell Beckham Jr., the Cleveland Browns' star wide receiver, is done for 2020 after the club confirmed Monday he blew out his left knee in Sunday's win at Cincinnati, while chasing an interceptor of Baker Mayfield's.
An MRI confirmed the tornACL diagnosis.
“Incredibly disappointed for him,” Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters, per Cleveland.com.
It's another gut-punch for “OBJ,” a three-time Pro Bowl pick who just hasn't been able to make the splash in Cleveland he'd hoped when his first NFL team, the New York Giants, traded him there in March 2019.
Beckham caught 23 passes for 319 yards this season, which ranked 59th and 45th in the NFL, respectively, after Sunday.
“Obviously it's a big loss,” Stefanski said. “He's a huge part of what we do.”
The Browns seemed to do fine without him, in rallying to win in the final seconds at Cincinnati.
Although Beckham's good friend, Jarvis Landry, leads the Browns with 29 catches for 367 yards, and although Mayfield threw five touchdown passes after Beckham's injury on Sunday, you've got to think OBJ's loss will indeed hurt the Browns against better defences.
“Now we'll just have to huddle up, find some different ways,” Stefanski said. “It's our job to figure that out.
“Odell, the energy he brings to practice, the energy he brings to games — no one else is going to be able to bring that type of juice.”
Beckham will enter 2021 fully five years removed from his last of three Pro Bowl appearances, 2014-16. He averaged 6.7 receptions per game in that span, but only 5.1 since 2017.
Similarly, he caught 35 touchdowns in his first three seasons, but only 16 over four seasons since.
COWBOYS, PATRIOTS BOTH NEED BETTER QB PLAY
The New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys aren't quite out of the playoff hunt yet.
Should the Patriots upset the Bills in Buffalo on Sunday, Buffalo would drop to 5-3 and New England would improve to 3-4 — with two months of play to go. The AFC East race would be back on.
The 2-5 Cowboys are only half a game behind 2-4-1 Philadelphia in the NFC East, and still have four games left against their fellow lowly division foes, including two against the Eagles. So they're far from out of it.
But what are these two teams to do at quarterback the rest of the way?
After Tom Brady's March departure in New England, and Dak Prescott's season-ending ankle fracture two weeks ago in Dallas, each club is saddled with a one-year, low-cost veteran who — to put it in the kindest possible terms — really stunk it up in ugly losses on Sunday.
Cam Newton never looked worse in 10 years as a pro than in the Pats' 33-6 home-field loss to San Francisco. And Andy Dalton in 2½ quarters ( before getting knocked out on a vicious hit) was just nine of 19 for only 75 yards, no touchdowns, an interception and a terrible 36.1 passer rating. He left the game with the Cowboys trailing 22-3.
So, with the NFL trade deadline now just a week away — next Tuesday — might either team make a run at a new quarterback? The Cowboys have Ben DiNucci and Garrett Gilbert backing up Dalton; the Patriots have Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer behind Newton on the active roster, and Jake Dolegala on the practice squad.
What quarterback perhaps available via trade might be an upgrade?
Well, Miami's Ryan Fitzpatrick for one.
With the Dolphins benching him for No. 5 overall draft pick Tua Tagovailoa, Fitz might well do more with that delicious platter of Cowboys receiving options than Dalton has, especially once injured offensive linemen return. It's unlikely the Dolphins would ever deal Fitz to AFC East rival New England, however — even if that would complete the bearded vagabond's divisional tour of duty, after stops with Buffalo (2009-12), the New York Jets (2015-16) and Miami (since last year).
After Fitz, who else? Some are calling for the Cowboys to sign Colin Kaepernick. But the last time he took an NFL snap, Barack Obama was U.S. president — in early January 2017. That much rust can't flake off quickly in midseason.
So, as I tweeted out Monday, how about this wild idea? Why don't the Patriots and Cowboys just swap starters?
Newton and Dalton are both veterans discarded once already this year, both of whom are on one-year “prove it” contracts, with Dalton earning a base season salary of US$3 million, Newton $1.75 million.
Neither seems a fit in his current team's offence. It would take a few weeks, sure, for Dalton to properly digest the Patriots' offence designed by Josh McDaniels. Ditto for Newton with Mike McCarthy's and Kellen Moore's offence in Dallas.
Yeah, it's crazy. But it's 2020. And at this point, what do either the Pats or Cowboys have to lose? Other than a lot more games.
Might as well go down fighting.