WR Odell Beckham Jr.
October 9, 2018
Q: How do you look at Thursday given that you guys aren’t buried in this division and this game could be a big way back?
A: Very optimistic. I’ve always said, it’s a long season, and we have an opportunity to come in here in a big, big division game and be able to reshape our season. We know what we have in front of us, short week, just coming off of a tough loss, so we’re all just trying to get our minds wrapped around what the game plan is, how we can come out and best beat Philly.
Q: Is this one where it’s Philly, it doesn’t make a difference what the records are?
A: To an extent. If you’re any record at all, it’s Philadelphia, you want to beat them. Defending Super Bowl champs coming in here, Thursday Night game, but right now the focus is more on this just one game, and not putting so much pressure on what it could do for us, but this is a game that we need to win against a division rival.
Q: When you look at Philly, what’s been the biggest difference other than the fact that they have some personnel, they’ve got injuries? Why are they off to such a slow start do you think?
A: I haven’t got a chance to watch them that much, but there’s always a team each and every year where everything is right for them. Even watching them last year, there was third downs, third and sevens – they got all of them. It’s just the little stuff that was going on for them all year that was happening that allowed them to win each and every game, I don’t know if I’ve seen that in the past games. To be honest, I haven’t got a chance to watch much of them, I’ve really been focused on what we’re doing. I just don’t know the answers to their problems, I’m more worried about ours right now.
Q: Does the double pass from the other day set up stuff for you in the future? Now that teams know that, does it help you with maybe a bubble screen or some other look from a similar formation?
A: I don’t know exactly. I’m just happy that we had that planned up and I just had it in the back of my mind that it would happen at some point. It did happen and we connected on it, so I don’t know if it sets up better plays in the future or if it kind of would alert them that this is a possibility of something happening, I get what you’re saying, but I don’t know exactly how to answer that question.
Q: Did you see (Rhett) Ellison open too or were you going to (Saquon) Barkley the whole way?
A: To be honest, that’s the first read is right there. We’ve talked about it so much and the tight ends kind of joke about it knowing they probably weren’t getting that pass, but I didn’t get a chance to see him open. I was kind of locked in on where I was going to go, and I’m just happy we made that play.
Q: Is it a struggle to stay even-keeled and not get too jacked up for this game given the magnitude coming up?
A: I’m pretty jacked up for every game, to be honest with you. I really look forward, I go to sleep every night to wake up to come in here and be able to go 110 miles an hour in practice. Every day, I go home –it’s not as much fun to sit in meetings as it is to be out on the practice field and be able to work on your craft, so I get up every day with the same mentality to be able to get better at what I do. I’m excited about this opportunity, I know it’s a short week, and we’ve just got to come out and get a win.
Q: Did that game, your production, finally getting 30 points – did that make you feel like you’re back a little more than you had been?
A: No, what it made me feel like is that I like the direction that this team is going. I like the way we came out there and fought against every bit of adversity like I said. I’ve never felt so close to where all of our mindset is and where we’re heading and where we want to go, and I think that was a building point. I remember being in the huddle multiple times being like, this is the game that’s going to be determining for our season of how we’re going to be, what’s our character, what’s this team’s identity? That fight, that grit, determination, all that – that’s who this team is and that’s what we plan to bring every single Thursday, Monday night, Sunday game from here on out.
Q: Are you excited to play again on Thursday to build off that?
A: This probably would be the first time where I would ever not be upset about the turnaround. Coming off a tough loss like that, you just want to get back out there. When you lose a game like that, it’s like you wish you had five more minutes to play and you’ve got to wait a whole week usually, but we get a quick turnaround this week, we get to go out on Thursday, and I know we’re all excited about that opportunity. We’ve got to come out and make the most of it.
Q: What have these last few days been like for you? You lost that tough game, your name is out there, people are talking a lot about a lot of things-
A: Just chatter. Same approach every single day, get up, be the best that I can be. We’re moving forward. My teammates, my brothers, there’s nothing that can come in between us. We’ve had these conversations and like I said, we’re all moving forward onto Philly.
Q: You did feel the need to address the team before the game (Sunday) based partly on that interview on ESPN. Do you think it’s straight now, do you think the team understands where you’re coming from?
A: Yeah, I think we all understand each other. Like I said, there’s nothing that is going to come in between my brothers, my teammates, this is something that is going to pull us closer. I felt very close as a team this Sunday, and that’s the way that we have to play. That’s the way we’re going to fight. Nobody in here likes to lose, we’re all tired of losing, we want to change that culture, atmosphere, whatever it is, because this is a place that has a lot of pride and we want to be able to be proud of what we display and do all those things. It was a big week for us. We took a big step. Unfortunately, we lost on a 63-yard field goal. If I had to lose on a 63-yard field goal, so be it. That’s impressive by that kicker to be able to do that with the game on the line and hit it. We’re taking steps in the right direction.
Q: After one week of the offense doing what it accomplished last week, does that break the two-deep zone and whatever else defenses have been trying to do to you guys with a shell? Can that one game break it?
A: That one game is what you build off of, I don’t know if it necessarily breaks it, meaning we have to come out and bring that each and every time. Once we start bringing that each and every time, I could answer that question if it broke it or not. It was kind of a one game thing, and now we want to build off that and be able to do that again and again and again. Make plays on special teams, make plays on offense, defense, just be as a complete team. That’s really the goal at the end of the day.
Q: As much as you give everything on game days, what have you learned about Saquon in that regard as a competitor who wants to win at all costs?
A: Like you said, he wants to win. Not a lot of us came from losing, a college – like where I came from, I remember losing the one game to Florida or losing the one game to Alabama like it’s the end of our season. It’s everything, it’s about being undefeated. The NFL is different. There is seeding, there’s stuff in college where it’s more important, but the mentality was to never lose. The mentality was that losing that one game, it’s over with. There was importance, an urge to win each and every Saturday in college. That’s the mentality he has, he came from a place where I think they had only lost ten total games – I don’t know what his record was. But the mentality is to win, plain and simple.
Q: You had a lot of success last year pushing the pace against Philly. Why do you think your offense functions well when you go up tempo?
A: I think a lot of offenses function well when they go up tempo because it makes it hard for defenses to get in certain packages, to be able to game plan. It’s just kind of like you have to go on the fly, and we have had some success with that, and I’m sure it’ll be something we continue to lose, but right now we’re continuing to build off what we brought last Sunday. I’m excited about the opportunity we have Thursday night. Couldn’t come fast enough.
Q: You know Jalen Mills pretty well, it’s pretty well known he’s struggled with the double moves and stuff. How do you approach that when you go into a game against a guy like that?
A: Same approach you would against anybody else. Like I said, I was at college with Jalen, we talked every day on how do you feel, we got each other, that’s what we did. This is a familiar opponent, we go against each other each and every year, but the game plan is always going to be the same. It’s hard playing off coverage and going against very good receivers and having to respect somebody running a slant, and to run a double move. DB is a very hard position, so I’m sure he’s catching heat. I know he’s got a lot of ability. Like I said, I played against him in college, but we’re looking forward to the opportunities we have.
Q: Because no one has run away in the standings, that you can actually look in the standings and you’ll see the teams ahead of you, how much more urgency does it place on a game like this?
A: I think you could take away everything that’s happened this season, I think the urgency is what it is right now. We know we need to win right now, regardless of our situation. The mentality is to win each and every game and now there is a big opportunity ahead of us to be able to take control of our season and build from this even after the bad that we’ve had already. We can overcome it all starting with this game – not just one game, but starting with this game, and going from there on.
