Tuesday Media Transcript: WR Odell Beckham Jr.

WR Odell Beckham Jr.

August 23, 2016

Q: What did you see from Victor today getting back out there?

A: What did you see? I saw him moving around. Him and I have been staying on top of our exercise. Just making sure we’re getting our body right. That’s the most important thing. He came out, looked fresh today. Again, the biggest thing is just September 11. I know he would definitely love to get some preseason in. It’s been a little minute since he’s played, but in my opinion he looked great.

Q: Is it fun when you have all the guys out there?

A: It’s fun. It’s always fun. When you’re out there with your brothers and you see somebody else having fun, who came to work and has a smile on their face, it makes it 10 times easier for the next guy. Whether it’s to make a play or be enthused about practice.

Q: That was him with a smile on his face?

A: Yes. Just seeing him back out there catching some balls, bursting a little bit. It feels good. It feels right.

Q: Was there any specific moment when you were like, ‘there you go, I see it right there’?

A: I was running a route deep and I looked back to see where the ball went and it went to 80. It was one-high coverage and it went to 80 and I see him take off. At first you see it and I was like I’m about to get this one. Then the ball went somewhere else and I saw him catch it, turn up field and burst. It’s great to see Vic back out there. He’s been through quite a lot.

Q: Does he have to be healthy for your offense to reach its ceiling this season?

A: Victor Cruz is definitely a big part of the offense. We definitely would love to have him out there. That’s obviously the goal. At the end of the day, it’s always the next man up mentality. Whether it’s him, Shep, myself, Myles, any other receiver, somebody is going to have to step up and fill whatever shoes need to be filled.

Q: How do you think Sterling Shepard did today?

A: He looked pretty good to me, too. I’m just trying, I want to just keep Shep under the radar. Let him come out and have that phenomenal season that he’s fully capable of having. Rookie of the year season, in my opinion. But keep that hush.

Q: Do you think he can have a better season than you did as a rookie?

A: 1,306, 92 receptions for him, 13 touchdowns, that’s the goal. Just have to do better. At the end of the day, we’re all here to really work together. It’s going to be great to have all these guys out here. It’s going to make it very tough for teams to really game plan. You’re going to have to pick your poison.

Q: In Buffalo did you get grabbed on the fourth and four?

A: Yes, but it’s football. The ball is in the air, I’m trying to track it down. It felt like I was doing some running drills where you do resistance running. I felt him tugging. I wanted to drive and go get it, but I just couldn’t get out of there. There was no call, so obviously there’s no call, there’s no pass interference. It was a good play.

Q: Is it hard not to get frustrated? I know it’s only a preseason game but you guys get the first down right off the bat and move the ball, but after that you struggled to move the ball. Is it frustrating or is it just the second preseason game?

A: If we went for 400 yards total offense and seven touchdowns, it would be great. At the same point in time, it wouldn’t matter. It would be great to have, but it’s preseason. Not saying it like it’s irrelevant and doesn’t matter, but it’s really not as big of a concern. We would like to go out there and be productive. You never want to step out on the field, put something bad on film like we did this past weekend. It was just bad all the way around from the starters to everybody who played at any part of the game.

Q: What do you say to your teammates after that?

A: Flush it. Move on, you can’t get it back. I can’t get the fourth down back, you can’t get not a single minute back. I can’t get what I just said back. There is no way to go back in time so you just have to keep moving.

Q: Given the fact that the starters don’t usually play the fourth season game, how far away is this offense from being where you want to be for the opening day against Dallas? How much work do you need against the Jets as an offense to be sharp?

A: We need a lot. We come out and get it in practice, but there’s no reps that can really simulate live game reps. As many as we can get. Even though it’s preseason, the pace is a little faster. I wouldn’t say it’s the same pace of a game. It may be a little slower. Guys are a little hesitant on something. We definitely need to come out and get some more work, especially after last week.

Q: There was a recent interview that just came out where Josh Norman thinks you might have a rough year because teams are going to attack you in a different way and try to create something like Carolina last year. I was just wondering if you had a response to that?

A: I’m really here to focus on the New York Giants. Anything that doesn’t really have to do with us or my teammates … if you want to talk about Rashad Jennings’ charity events and what Mark Herzlich does for the community, I would love to. Anything other than that, it’s just football.

Q: How is your camp going in terms of physically you can do everything but mentally, do you think you’re further along in understanding the game and concepts in this offense than the day you came in?

A: I think as you get older, you start to learn more. Obviously, you learn more, whether it’s from mistakes, successes, you learn. Right now I’m always learning and trying to find ways to up my game. I can feel in a sense that I’ve gotten better. There’s obviously still things that I want to work on and get better at, but it takes time. Time is somewhat on our side. We still have a little bit of time before the first game.

Q: As a teammate what do you say to Josh Brown when all of this stuff is going on? I know you guys all hear about it.

A: I’ve only heard, I’ve only read the headlines, which seems to be what we do nowadays, anyway. I haven’t really gotten to talk too much to him about it, details, anything like that. The only thing we can tell him is that we’ve always got your back, whatever the case may be. I don’t really know enough to speak on it.

Q: Do you think Victor Cruz has to get into a preseason game and have some success before the opener?

A: You might have to ask him that one. In my opinion, if he came out of preseason and didn’t do anything, dropped 95 balls and then came out in the regular season and caught everything, how much did it really matter at the time. That’s more of an opinionated question for him, I guess. In my mind, I’m definitely looking forward and think Vic will be ready come September 11.

Q: Did you lobby with Ben McAdoo to be the Week 1 kicker?

A: I’m just trying to do what I’ve got to do.