Lesson from young Odell
As Giants should have learned with OBJ in 2014, hamstrings are tricky things
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — In July 2014, then-Giants coach Tom Coughlin expressed frustration with rookie receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s nagging hamstring. He said Beckham “looks pretty good out there moving around” and was hopeful to have him back in “a real short period of time.”
Even after Beckham sat out all four preseason games, Coughlin only called Beckham’s hamstring sore and said there had been “no setback.”
But then, of course, Beckham missed the first four games of the regular season, and OBJ revealed months later at the Pro Bowl in Arizona that he’d played all 12 of his rookie regular season games through two tears in his right hamstring.
Then-GM Jerry Reese would debate that characterization months later. Still, the point is that the Giants’ rookie first round pick’s injury cost him games and was more serious than originally believed.
“A hamstring is something that never really goes away,” Beckham said in January of 2015. “It’s very hard to just get over them. There have been times when I pulled my hamstring and got over it, and but this is one that stuck with me for a while.”
This is important context now as rookie running back Saquon Barkley nurses a left hamstring injury, which was described by one Daily News source as a “tweak” and then called both a “mild strain” and a “tweak” by Giants head coach Pat Shurmur, who labeled Barkley “day-to-day” on Tuesday.
Barkley sat out the second straight day of the Giants practice sessions with the Lions here Wednesday, in full uniform with no shoulder pads. He was in high spirits, though, and the leg did not seem to be bothering him too much. He certainly was not protecting his leg as if it hurt too badly.
At the start of practice, Barkley actually was juggling a football like a soccer ball, at one point standing on just his injured left leg while kicking the ball with his right. Shurmur was asked about Barkley’s juggling act and about whether the coach, therefore, can say he’s confident it’s a minor injury.
“I didn’t see what you’re saying, but he’s day-to-day,” Shurmur said. “He’s working his way back. He tweaked it. And yeah, I’m confident he’ll be back.”
Then after practice, Barkley joined some teammates catching footballs from the Jugs machine – grabbing a few onehanded – and he actually jogged lightly after a loose football at one point. These are all encouraging signs, as is the fact that Barkley made the trip in the first place.
However, as Beckham’s case illustrated in 2014, hamstring injuries can be problematic.
Beckham sustained his first hamstring tear during the spring of 2014 and then suffered the second tear when he rushed back too early at the start of training camp under public pressure from Coughlin, who’d said: “It’s more than (disappointing Beckham can’t practice). We’re trying to put a team together. We saw too much of that in the spring.”
Shurmur certainly is not going to rush Barkley back or call him out publicly for not practicing. The coach prioritizes his players’ health. And yet, Barkley still bears watching after Shurmur gave him a couple maintenance days or reduced workloads, and now the Giants’ prized No. 2 pick can’t practice and certainly will not be playing in Friday night’s preseason game at Ford Field.
So Shurmur for now is doing with Barkley what he typically does with injured players: resting them but keeping them on field in full uniform when possible to stay involved and learning.
In fact, that’s another potential sign that Barkley’s injury isn’t serious. He’s been standing on the field for the large part of these practices observing everything alongside his teammates.
“As long as they can defend themselves and it’s not a lower-leg injury of some sort or something where they need immediate attention, I think it’s important for them to be out there,” Shurmur said of his injured players.
On the other hand, when evaluating the injury’s severity, it’s hard to ignore that the Giants’ social media team quickly deleted Monday’s video of the practice play on which Barkley was injured.
The organization for good reason hypes its No. 2 overall pick’s talents at every turn. But here was an up-close look at Barkley’s impressive and outstretched catch of a Kyle Lauletta wheel route down the left sideline, and yet the Giants took it down off Twitter?
It may not say everything, but it certainly doesn’t mean nothing.
A hamstring injury for Barkley is a concern, too, because so much of his greatness is based on his quick-twitch cuts and speed bursts aided by his freakish lower-body strength. They drafted Barkley to help this team to win now, with Eli Manning 37 years old, and they need him on the field to do that.
In that vein, it’s a bit nerve-wracking frankly to watch Beckham practice against another NFL team, coming off last year’s left ankle surgery, while Barkley stands idle injured on the sidelines.
This is football, though, of course, and you can’t bubble-wrap your stars forever.
Beckham, of course, went on to scorch the earth as a rookie despite his hamstring tears, with 91 receptions, 1,305 receiving yards and 12 touchdown grabs in just 12 games. And Barkley could be just as big a game-changer in year one.
The Giants can only hope he’ll be back soon. Wednesday there were plenty of signs that Barkley likely will be OK. It’s just that recent history has shown that with hamstrings and Giants’ star firstround picks, you never know.