New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. should be praised for playing through pain, but it’s time to shut him down until he’s healthy.
Nobody can question the toughness possessed by New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Say whatever you will about Beckham’s antics, superstar persona, desire to earn as much money as possible during the prime of his career or the fact the Giants haven’t won anything of note with him on the roster. Beckham hasn’t been 100 percent since injuring his ankle during a preseason tilt versus the Cleveland Browns, and that was made clear during Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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Beckham’s ankle is obviously weak four games into the season, as he aggravated that issue multiple times versus the Bucs. If that wasn’t bad enough, it also appeared he had a finger painfully and nauseatingly dislocated and then popped back into place during the second quarter of that contest. He nevertheless persevered and helped New York earn a fourth-quarter lead that the defense ultimately choked away.
The Giants face multiple harsh realities during the first week of October. They’re 0-4 with little, if any, existing hope of making the postseason. Winning nine of 12 contests, a daunting task for any team, may not even be enough for the Giants to qualify for the playoffs. Fans of the club are already silently, and not so silently in some cases, hoping the team tanks for the best possible draft pick.
There is bound to be plenty of talk about Beckham’s future with the Giants, particularly among certain local media members who need to use the 24-year-old’s name to generate sports-talk radio listeners and website clicks. Beckham is one of the best offensive players in the league, let alone one of the best at his position, and the Giants realistically will retain his rights for at least another two years. He should remain on the roster even if those running the franchise decide to blow things up and start anew between now and next April.
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Head coach Ben McAdoo, general manager Jerry Reese and all within the organization need to see the writing on the wall and realize what’s best for the team beyond the next couple of weeks. Whether any critics of Beckham want to admit it or not, he is the future of a team that’s going nowhere but toward the bottom of the standings over the next couple of months. Playing him versus the Los Angeles Chargers this coming Sunday makes about as much sense as trying to walk to MetLife Stadium from the Hoboken PATH station.
This isn’t to suggest Beckham is a negative for the New York offense. In fact, he led all players, Tampa Bay starters included, with seven receptions during Sunday’s loss in Florida. The Giants aren’t winning with or without Beckham these days, and what was a championship roster on paper a month ago is now one that may struggle to win more than a couple of games before 2018 rolls around.
Just about every football player is banged up one-fourth into the season. They suffer from fatigue and soreness that comes from participating in 16 quarters of such a physically demanding game. That’s not the case with Beckham, though. He’s injured, and anybody who would discount that should go back and watch him fight through pain during the second half of Sunday’s game.
Starting Beckham versus the Chargers benefits nobody other than fantasy football owners who acquired him via first-round draft picks. Only time and rest will heal the ankle problem Beckham has dealt with since the middle of August. Why play him in an attempt to go 1-4, and risk losing him for up to 11 weeks because somebody hits him low or the turf betrays him as he cuts up the field?
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There’s some merit behind the notion New York players merely need to perform better to turn things around, but the stats about 0-4 teams not qualifying for postseason tournaments don’t lie. A healthy Beckham may not be good enough to carry what now needs to be considered an overrated team to the playoffs. McAdoo and Reese should sit Beckham for at least a couple of weeks before any additional harm is done.