Odell Beckham Jr. will play, but NY Giants are ‘exceedingly cautious’

New York Giants rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has always been expected to finally make his NFL regular season debut today against the Atlanta Falcons, and that expectation has evidently turned to reality. Per Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith, ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reports that Beckham Jr. will indeed play today, though the NFL Network’s Kimberly Jones reported earlier this morning that while the Giants have planned on getting OBJ back today, they are going to be “exceedingly cautious” with him (as they have been since he first aggravated his hamstring injury).

More from New York Giants

• New York Giants deliberately disrespecting Saquon Barkley at this point
• 2023 NFL Season: Saquon Barkley signs silly deal with Giants
• New York Giants make big move with star RB disgruntled
• NFL: Which Giant deserved a contract extension – Barkley or Jones?
• 5 NFL teams that will definitely disappoint fans in 2023

Beckham Jr. was incredibly fun to watch in college, but he also played with a more refined style than other “explosive” college receivers like Marqise Lee or, previously, West Virginia’s Tavon Austin. Like those guys, OBJ can stretch small gains into huge plays or, like Lee, make huge plays downfield. But he’s also better than those two at actually holding onto passes and running routes.

According to NJ.com’s Conor Orr, we should expect the Giants to give Odell Beckham Jr. about 15-20 snaps, which answers the “How limited will he be?” question for us with a nice, albeit rough, estimate. That isn’t much playing time, but the goal is to ease OBJ back in, see him on the field, and see if he can turn those limited snaps into a big play or two against a defense that is one of the worst in the league.