No bruise brothers
Odell, Shurmur at odds over release of injury info
Pat Shurmur appeared to take a not-so-veiled shot Wednesday at Odell Beckham Jr.’s recent injury revelation in his Facebook video series. And there also was confusion on Beckham’s practice status heading into Sunday’s game against Tennessee.
Shurmur announced Wednesday morning that Beckham (quad) “will not be partici- pating in practice” due to start around 1:05 p.m. “He was out there in the walkthrough moving around, but he won’t be in practice,” the coach added. But then Shurmur couldn’t help adding what sounded like a dig:
“I think he’s getting better each day, but we’ll know more as the week goes on,” Shurmur said. “And I encourage our players not to talk about their injuries. So hopefully that’s about all you’ll get out of it.”
Shurmur appeared to be alluding to how Beckham revealed in last Friday’s “I AM MORE: OBJ” video series that he had been dealing with a bruised quad since a Nov. 25 loss at Philadelphia.
Beckham, however, was in full pads with the rest of his teammates at the start of Wednesday’s practice, moving well during stretching and early routes, before taking off his pads when the team period began. He officially was listed as a “limited” participant in practice.
And a brand-new Beckham Instagram post about 50 minutes before the start of practice might have been only coincidental, but it still was interesting: a photo of Beckham saluting with the caption: “I respect ur rules, but i’m done livin in ur world…”
Last Friday, when Beckham revealed his quad injury, also was the first day the Giants announced Beckham’s injury publicly and listed him as limited at practice.
But Shurmur still said that Beckham was “playing” in Sunday’s game at Washington, only to announce Saturday afternoon that Beckham — who hadn’t been on the injury report all week — had been downgraded to out and wouldn’t even make the trip.
After a blowout victory in Washington without Beckham, Shurmur said nothing had happened in Friday’s practice to aggravate the injury, but Saquon Barkley said “I guess something happened in practice” to Beckham.
On Monday, Beckham said he feels “one thumb’s up” and is “trying to feel two thumbs up.” And Shurmur said Beckham told the Giants he “felt a lot better” than he had on the weekend but it was “too early to tell” on Beckham’s status for Sunday.
Beckham typically addresses the media on Thursdays, so it’s wait-and-see on whether he’ll be able to return and play Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
COLLINS HAS SURGERY; OTHER INJURIES
Landon Collins had surgery Tuesday on the partially torn labrum in his left shoulder, and Shurmur said “the surgery went well.” … Tight end Rhett Ellison (ankle) was the only Giant on the roster who did not participate in any way in Wednesday’s practice. Beckham was limited and free safety Curtis Riley (wrist) was listed as a full participant.