Beckham: ‘spiritual reconstruction’ was part of his recovery
BEREA — When Odell Beckham Jr. arrived at the EXOS Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine center in Arizona, he found “ACL rehab” written beside his name.
“I told them to change it to spiritual reconstruction,” he said.
Undergoing his third surgery in four years on Nov. 10, the Browns star receiver wasn’t just trying to put his 28-yearold body back together after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Oct. 25. His mind, his outlook, his soul needed work.
“Mentally it’s tough to stay in it when it has been year after year after year,” Beckham said. “Especially when you started out so fast and had all the goals of Jerry Rice and all these things and you’re slowly just crushed by injury. It’s just hard to mentally and spiritually stay strong throughout all of it.”
Beckham could make his comeback Sunday against the Chicago Bears. Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said he expects Beckham’s participation to be a game-time decision.
“The competitive guys like he is they want to be on the field a lot when the juices get flowing. But we just have to be smart. It’s a long season and he’s just coming back,” Van Pelt said. “Can’t expect him to come out and have a huge day first time back, we’ve just got to ease him back into it if he does make it to the game. I think he’s aware of that as well as we are as coaches.”
Beckham said he’s in “a way better place.”
“This is just my soul that I need to work on…” he said. “My energy, the way that I approach a situation, the way that I approach anything that goes on, I just have a positive outlook.
“This is the third time going through surgery and it’s just a different feeling. The first time when I came back from the ankle, it was tough to overcome that.
I felt like this time it was a lot easier of a process, more of a spiritual healing I would say.”
In his first three seasons with the New York Giants, Beckham caught 35 touchdown passes and totaled 4,122 receiving yards. But in 2017, he hurt his ankle in a preseason game against the Browns when he was undercut on a tackle by defensive back Breian Boddy-calhoun. Beckham missed the regularseason opener and played in four games before going on injured reserve.
The way Beckham sees it, the hernia surgery he underwent after the 2019 season, his first in Cleveland, and his torn ACL all stemmed from the ankle injury, which he said was the toughest operation of the three. Since the first surgery, he’s totaled 13 receiving touchdowns, seven with the Browns.
“It was being the first time you’ve ever been truly injured injured,” Beckham said of 2017. “The doc who I worked with since I came into the league said that could’ve been a career-ender.
“The ankle will never be the same, it’ll never move the same, you’ve got a plate and nine screws, tightropes in there, complete tear of all the ligaments on the inside … it was hard to come back from. It kind of led to other injuries. You know how the body works, it goes right up the chain.”
Should Beckham return Sunday, it would give the Browns a boost after Jarvis Landry suffered an MCL injury in his knee last weekend. and will be out at least three games.
Beckham said before the NFL schedule came out, the plan for his return was 11 months after surgery; he’s now at 101⁄2. There was much speculation that he would play in the season opener Sept. 12 at Kansas City, but Beckham was deemed inactive after pregame warmups.