WR Odell Beckham Jr.
September 14, 2017
Q: How is your ankle?
A: Better than yesterday, for sure. It’s been getting better over the past couple days. Probably the best I’ve felt yet. So, I’m going in the right direction.
Q: What did you do in practice today?
A: Just did routes – stuff like that. Just kind of trying to get back acclimated. Did a lot of the mental reps at the end and not high, high speed, but got some reps at the end of practice.
Q: What percentage would you say you’re at?
A: I don’t know a percentage yet. Couldn’t tell you a number.
Q: How much do you want to get back on the field?
A: I mean, for me, it’s like this is what you do it for. I personally don’t want to get up at 6:30 every morning to get here for 7 o’clock treatment. The days we have off, you’re here at 10 o’clock for treatment. I go home and I do five, six hours of treatment. It’s boring. It’s not fun. Nobody wants to do that and definitely don’t want to work all offseason and everything to get to Dallas and have to sit there and watch. I’m itching to get back on the field. Definitely rather be on the field than the training room, I’ll tell you that much. It’s definitely not fun.
Q: Do you think you proved more of your value by not playing?
A: I don’t really look into that. I really was trying my best at warmups. I was trying to get out there and play and even knowing I wasn’t in the best position to play, there was still that temptation. It might have been gross for me to be like, ‘You know what, I’m going to actually have to rest up and make a decision’ because everything in me was like, ‘You know, we’re here. Lights on. It’s Dallas. I want to get out there bad.’ But, you just have to be smart. It’s a long season and that’s one game. Unfortunately, we lost, but it’s one game. You have 15 more to prove yourself.
Q: How realistic was it for you to play entering Sunday?
A: Honestly, I don’t really know how realistic it was. As bad as I wanted to play, it just wasn’t there. It had been three weeks. The injury hadn’t even been a month since it happened. It’s a six to eight week thing. Unfortunately, as much as I was trying my hardest to get out there, it just wasn’t enough time.
Q: What still needs to happen for you to get the green light to go?
A: I think it’s just with the training staff and figuring out – it’s like that last step – you can burst. You can do all this, but there’s the little rotation and it’s the little movements that erk it a little bit and if it’s still hurting, the doctors are going to hold you. So, right now, I’m just trying to find a way to get through it. I have another long week going up until Monday. As soon as I get home, three hours, massage, do I need acupuncture coming through, everything just comes to the house and I’m just there. I spend a lot of time on that table, so I’m really ready to get off of that table, get out of the treatment room. It’s really not fun getting up every single morning and having to come here and do treatment.
Q: Six to eight weeks sounds like something more than a high ankle sprain.
A: I’m not a doctor, really. I don’t know how long it is. I’m just – there’s guidelines. It could be four to 12 weeks. You never know. Everybody heals differently.
Q: What makes you think you could get back this week?
A: I don’t know. I want to play that bad. It’s going to be, again, what are you going to do. I really couldn’t tell you at this moment. I’m working my best to get to 100, so once I do get there, there won’t be any more problems. At the moment, we don’t know. We’re just kind of day-by-day. It’s getting better. So we’re going in the right direction.
Q: What do you make of the fact that everyone is saying that the team doesn’t function offensively without you?
A: We had a bad game. We had bad games last year. Dallas lost the first game last year and went (13-3). It’s one game. I, for sure, am not panicking. I don’t think anybody over here is panicking. We did have a bad game. The good thing about that is, there’s a lot of film for you to go watch and correct and bring it into next week. It’s one game. It’s literally one game and now it’s like, ‘Wow, you lost the game. OK, move on.’
Q: How do you prepare on offense without knowing where you stand injury-wise?
A: Everybody has to step up. That’s what it is. It’s next man mentality. Especially in the receiving room. Everybody who goes on that field we have full confidence in that they’re going to be able to do their job and do it at a high level. So, right now, it’s just trying to find a game plan, find your plays and make sure you make them. But, like I said, we didn’t have a good first game. We just came out flat. Dallas – they had more energy. It was home. Maybe we beat them the last couple times – there was an extra chip on their shoulder. They just happened. They beat us and you move on. There’s 15 other games. Tom Brady lost to the Chiefs. I’m sure he’s not over there freaking out. You stay composed. You keep going. You keep chopping away. You get 1% better each and every day.
Q: Will you play on Monday?
A: I can’t tell you that right now, but I’m trying my hardest, that’s for sure. It’s not fun. It’s really not fun. I don’t think the people in the training room like me anymore after seeing me every day. It’s not a place that you want to be. It’s just really not.
Q: Is there a delicate balance with not making the injury worse after everything you’ve done?
A: Yeah. Pretty much. It’s like when I had the hamstring issue and you come back and you don’t know if it’s too early or not and you get re-injured again. You set yourself back for another five to six weeks. I don’t have that luxury right now. So, it’s a matter of getting to a point where you know you’re confident and it’s confident in itself and you can go and you don’t have to worry about it. Until that moment comes, we’re being smart with it, corrective and staying on top of it.
Q: How much does the extra day for a Monday night game help?
A: It helps a lot. We had Monday and Tuesday. Well, the team had Monday and Tuesday off -- I still had treatment at 10 in the morning -- to be able to get some rest, at least for those two days. You had an easier Wednesday. Come in, get your lifts and you just kind of get back into it. We went into the division, played a physical Cowboys team and they beat up on us. Everybody is recovering this week. This extra day is going to help us. I’m looking forward to it. Monday night football. I’m trying my best. It’s a primetime game. You want to be in it.
Q: How do you respond to the report that you were in a dance-off with Russell Wilson?
A: It was a full on dance battle. We were in there break dancing. I had the little beany with the pad on it, spinning on my head. It was incredible to be able to do something like that with Russell. It was everything for me.
Q: Did you win the dance battle with Russell Wilson?
A: I don’t know. I’m not really the judge of it. I know a dance battle looks good on a title. It’s like, hey a dance battle. Everything is good. I know how stuff works now. You can’t really take it personally. It doesn’t bother me.
Q: Was the dance battle a false report and did they mischaracterize the battle?
A: I don’t really know. It happens. It happens all the time. So, it’s not really something that bothers me anymore.
Q: How much are you struggling with not making your injury worse?
A: It’s a matter of patience and patience is a hard thing at this point in time in my life. You want it so bad and it’s like, it’s right there in front of you and it’s just you have to wait. You have to wait until you’re good to go. It’s a tough process. Trying to stay a positive as I can about the situation. People in the training room are tired of me.
Q: How did you feel at practice today?
A: It felt good. It felt good just to be back out there. Something about – it’s just when you put that helmet on, it’s a different mode. When you put the helmet on and go out there and warm up and when we got to individuals, I was running routes. I was feeling pretty good. So, like I said, we’re definitely taking major strides in the right direction. It’s a matter of time.
