Wednesday Media Transcript: WR Odell Beckham Jr.

WR Odell Beckham Jr.

October 4, 2017

Q: How are you feeling?

A: Football. Banged up. We had a tough game, a tough loss. But, got some days until Sunday to recover and get right. But, don’t feel great.

Q: Talk more about how you feel right now when it comes to injury.

A: Losing record. 0-4. You can fight through all the pain in the world. Just losing games is not fun, so ankle, get it right. It’s nothing. It’s, you know, same old story.

Q: Is the ankle any better or worse?

A: Same.

Q: How do you explain the dropped passes?

A: I was talking to coach (Ben McAdoo) today and the routes that we’re running and the DB’s – I talked to them after the game. They were like, ‘We know you’re running a certain route.’ So, it was just me putting extra onto a route, just trying to create more space and I kind of have to trust myself more in the sense that when I make my break, not everybody is going to be able to come out and close that little gap. So, there’s a split second where you’re like, ‘Oh, they’re coming on your back.’ And, I told 10 (Eli Manning) the play before that, I caught the ball, ran on the sideline soaking wet, wiped my pants, gloves still soaked, wiped the jersey – soaked. I’m about to take them off, we’re in hurry up. It’s like there’s no time. I was like, ‘If this thing comes this way, I don’t know what’s going to happen.’ It came that way. But, we went back in. We caught some passes after that, so drops don’t really bother me. It’s just something, my confidence is too high. You know, you drop the ball. It’s definitely an accident. I didn’t do it on purpose.

Q: The DBs told you they know what route you’re running?

A: Yeah. I mean, they study film. I was talking to (Vernon) Hargreaves after the game and he was just like, ‘You know, we know a lot of what you’re doing.’ But, it still just comes to the point where you have to trust it. We have to trust 10 to make the throw like he did, not put anything extra on (the route) because if I didn’t put something extra on it, the timing probably would have been perfectly right. I didn’t get my head around fast enough, but we’ll be alright.

Q: Why hasn’t this team been able to score more in the first quarter and how important will that be going forward?

A: I think we just came out slow. In these games, we’ve come out slow and really looking back on it, I remember the first two years I was here, we went 6-10, but we were losing games by 2-3 points and it’s really that much of a difference. So, coming out and giving our defense energy by scoring, making them when they get on the field, you know, ‘Alright, well, offense scored. It’s time for us to get a stop.’ It’s a give and take. All three phases have to go – all have to function together.

Q: Can any one player put too much on his shoulders at 0-4?

A: I don’t know. That’s a good question. It’s definitely a collective thing. It’s all of us. Offense, defense, special teams, everybody’s got to step it up. It was like we lost two games and everybody panicked and it made it seem like we’re at a horrible spot. We lost two, blah, blah, blah. Come back the third game, put our best foot forward, come up short. Do it again the next week. Come up short. What do you do from there? I don’t see myself tanking. I don’t see myself giving in and honestly I feel like this was the breaking point for us. This is going to be the turnaround. This is going to be where things start to go our way. We start to make plays. We do all that. I’m fully confident in us doing what we have to do to get to where we need to be at. So, there’s no real walking around here with your head down. There’s none of that. Definitely not myself and I tell each and every one of my teammates, head up like a nose bleed. Keep it moving, stick together. Got 12 more games. What do you want to do in them? It’s up to us.

Q: Is there a way to not to press and just go out and play the game?

A: Well, you know, when the story gets written that you’re 0-3 and it’s like, ‘Oh, what are we doing?’ and you hear a lot from the outside world – that’s where a lot of press comes from. No matter what you want to do, you hear it, you feel it. So, I feel like it may have gotten to us the last two games, but it’s got to come to an end. I know I’m going to go out and give my all Sunday and we won’t come up short. That’s the goal is to get a win and to start winning and it starts today with a good day of practice. It starts with communicating in every which way that you can and just building this team up, which we’re doing.

Q: You are a confident guy. Are you sensing that your teammates are losing confidence?

A: Heads up like a nose bleed. Like I said, we’re going to walk around here. You don’t hang your head. For what? OK, you lost a couple games. You’re a man. Adversity tests your manhood. So, let’s see what kind of man you are. Are you going to fold, you going to break, you going to give in or you going to keep pushing? I know that we’re going to keep pushing. I know that for sure. That’s the goal is to get everybody in here to push each and every day.

Q: When Vernon Hargreaves told you that he knew what routes you were running, does that tell you that you should do things differently?

A: It’s the system. It’s our offense. We were 11-5 last year and we were running the same thing. So, is it really this or are we just not executing right? And, I don’t think we’re executing the way that we can, at a higher level. It wasn’t a problem last year when we were winning games. So, it’s just a matter of execution, really.

Q: Ben McAdoo was saying that you may need to simplify the offense to get things moving faster.

A: Be better than them. You know I’m running a slant. Beat me on a slant. Do it. I don’t see you doing it. That’s just what it has to be. That’s the mentality you have to have. It has to be, ‘Ok, cool. You know I’m running a slant. I’m going to beat you inside and I’m going to catch this ball and get 7 yards.’ Whatever you’re going to get. It just has to be that mentality. You have to have it. Now is the time you have to have it. It’s not that we’re pressing, but now is the time.

Q: Would you like to see more big plays?

A: What receiver doesn’t want to catch a post and score the touchdown and make big plays. Like, yeah. We wish we could get those, but we take what we can get right now. We move the ball productively and effectively and we’ll see where we go from there. Of course, everybody wants big plays, but we’re taking what we can get right now.