Odell Beckham’s ‘s–t’ diagnosis was right: Won’t play vs. Titans
S–t apparently still ain’t right, so Odell Beckham Jr. ain’t playing Sunday against the Titans.
Giants coach Pat Shurmur revealed Beckham will miss his second straight game after sitting out practice again Friday due to the balky quad that forced him to skip last week’s blowout win over Washington.
“He’s not out here and he’s out. He won’t play this week. … No setbacks, he just can’t go,” Shurmur said. “He’s a very valued member of this team.
“But the challenge is for the guys that play in his place to do a good job. One-game basis, but the guys who did it last week did a good job. So there’s something to be learned from the experience that comes with that.”
Beckham had skipped practice on Thursday to visit the Hospital for Special Surgery for further evaluation. He said afterward his leg was “doing much better than it was,” although he prefaced that by offering his “s–t ain’t right” self-diagnosis.
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The previous day, the $95 million receiver officially was limited in practice, taking part in stretching and individual drills before receiving treatment on his quad.
“I think it’s a day-to-day thing,” Shurmur said when asked Friday if any determination had been made about Beckham beyond Sunday’s game.
In a video released Friday on Beckham’s Facebook Watch show “I am more: OBJ,” he said there was “just like this little hematoma or bruise, whatever you want to call it.” He tried to work through it, but it got worse during the Thursday practice ahead of the Redskins game.
“I’m just competitive. I just kept working hard, and it was the last play, last period of practice,” Beckham said. “I went and excelled for a ball, and I just felt like something weird happened.”
Without Beckham against Washington, the Giants scored 40 points for the first time this season, with starter Sterling Shepard and veteran backups Bennie Fowler and Russell Shepard each getting into the end zone on touchdown receptions from Eli Manning. Russell Shepard also had hauled in a touchdown toss from Beckham the previous week against Chicago.
“You want Odell out there, he’s such a unique player. But he’s fighting through an injury right now,” Fowler said. “And my confidence is going to be high going into the game, especially touching the end zone last week and playing with these guys and playing with Eli. I’ve been in this situation before in Denver last year, when Emmanuel [Sanders] was out, it was me and Demaryius [Thomas]. So I’ve been in this situation a couple of times.
“I don’t think anybody can really can do what Odell does, so I’m not going to try to do anything he does. He’s his own unique player, and I’m my own unique player. So I’m gonna do what I do. We just have to do our jobs.”
Sterling Shepard mostly has been quiet since a 167-yard performance against Atlanta on Oct. 22, totaling just 147 yards on 18 receptions in the six games thereafter. But the third-year wideout should see an increase in targets this week against Tennessee.
“It’s a little more in my playbook. Naturally, I think that happens. Odell gets the bulk of them when he’s in there, so it definitely makes room for everybody to spread the ball around,” Shepard said. “From a cover standpoint, it changes it, because you have to pay attention to Odell every time he’s on the field or wherever he’s at.”
Additionally, former first-round pick Corey Coleman — signed by the Giants after he was released by Cleveland and Buffalo earlier this season — also snared a key 30-yard gain from Manning deep into Washington territory. And tight end Evan Engram grabbed three receptions for 77 yards after missing two games with a hamstring injury.
“It’s important. Any position when you have an injury or a player’s missing, the guys need to step up, and I think they’ve done that,” Shurmur said. “That could be said about anybody’s who’s missing, we’ve had linebackers in and out of the lineup, same thing. A couple of defensive linemen have moved in and out; and early on it was the O-line.
“So it’s important that when guys get their opportunities they make the best of them. I think that group has done it.”
