Friday Media Transcript: WR Odell Beckham Jr.

WR Odell Beckham Jr.
October 19, 2018
 
Q: By now, you know what John Mara’s comments were about his reaction to your interview that he prefers you to focus on playing more than talking. What are your thoughts about your owner’s comments?
A: I respect and value his opinion, obviously, so that’s what we’re going to do. Like I said, focus on Atlanta right now and that’s really it.
 
Q: Have you talked to him?
A: I haven’t talked to him yet, but I’m sure we’ll talk. We talked, but we haven’t talked about that.
 
Q: Do you think that you should be allowed to talk about what you want to talk about whether or not he wants to agree with that or not?
A: I’m ready to talk about the Atlanta Falcons and that’s really it. That’s the focus right now. We need to start winning games, so I feel that I want to win, too, just as bad as everybody else. That’s really it, I just want to win.
 
Q: There were reports over the weekend that some unnamed players in the locker room were getting frustrated with Eli (Manning) and vocal on the quarterback changes. Is that something you sensed at all or do you have any reaction to that?
A: I laugh. I don’t think that’s the case. I think – what did you say? Players were frustrated? I think they’re frustrated that we’re 1-5 and we’re losing. Everybody wants to win, that’s really it. I don’t think that ever was really the case.
 
Q: What are your thoughts on the way Eli’s played and how he’s handled everything?
A: I think that we’re 1-5 and we need to start winning games and everybody needs to pick it up. I need to play better. I can’t say that I’ve had my best (inaudible). I can’t say that I’ve done enough to help this team win and I need to do more. Everybody needs to do more, everybody’s got to pick it up. We win games together, we lose them together. There’s no other way around it. It’s a team sport.
 
Q: Do you believe that he can get you to that point?
A: You got to ask him. I tell him every time we get in the huddle, I say, ‘Take me home, 10’, which to me carries weight because he’s been there. He knows how to win. He knows what he’s doing. He’s the most prepared of anybody I’ve ever seen and that’s exactly what I say, ‘take me home,’ so we’re going to start picking it up, we got to. We have no other choice. I don’t think anybody in here has that ‘lay down’ mentality. I don’t think anybody has quit in them. We’ve just been beaten. Some games, we’ve out executed. We just need to win, that’s really it.
 
Q: There were reports that you were fined for the comments in the interview and I know there was a lot of talk about that being a leadership moment. Is that disappointing?
A: It is what it is, you just got to take it on the chin. It is what it is.
 
Q: It’s getting late in the season to really turn things around. Do you have that hope?
A: Glass half full. Going into the bye week, we got two games. You can get two big wins for this team and turn it around. We can go in it 3-5 and just like every other team, you make a run. That’s how I’m looking at it, knowing that this is the most important game of the season. Can’t worry about what our record is. Got to worry about this game, win this game, prepare for next week, win that game, go into the bye week, everybody gets some legs back, get some time off, clear your mind and come back and make a push. That’s how I’m looking at it. That’s what I could see. We just got to keep our head down, but head up at the same time, and keep working and that’s really it. That’s all you can do at this point, just keep working. You dig yourself in a hole, you dig yourself out of it.
 
Q: With the talent you guys have on offense, do you look at what you guys have done production-wise, it’s kind of hard to figure out with you and Sterling (Shepard) and Saquon (Barkley) and Eli (Manning) and –
A: We all need to do more. That’s really it. We just all need to do more. Like I said, there’s been games where we’ve just been out-executed. There’s been games where the other team comes and they play a better game than we did, so we just got to do more, that’s it.
 
Q: This Falcons defense, where do you see that you guys can perhaps do some damage against them? What are some of their weak areas?
A: I think they’re a team who would expect to have a better record than they do, but they’re still a dangerous team and I know a couple of guys went down and stuff like that, so we just try to find the weaknesses just like every other week and attack them, but they got two good corners. They got a good front. It’s a good team. They got a nice little middle linebacker who I’m looking forward to seeing, but we just got to take advantage of these opportunities.
 
Q: With all the stuff that has gone on, how important is it for it just to be about football? Obviously there’s been a lot of extracurricular stuff that has taken –
A: It’s unfortunate. I think the extracurricular comes with losing. We know what it’s like when you’re losing, especially when you’re losing here, so we’re sure if you were winning, it’d be different, but it’s not the case, so right now it’s just about football, that’s it. Like I said, my focus is on football. I need to do more, I need to do better period. There’s nothing more that I could say about it.
 
Q: You guys have about 11 days by the time you play this game to get ready. How is this Giants team going to look different this time from the last time we’ve seen you guys?
A: I guess we’ll see (Monday). It’s easy to get up here and say this that, blah blah blah, but you don’t go out there and do it, it’s really just words, so it’s followed by action now, that’s it. Go out there, play the best game you can. Like I said, it’s time for me to do better. Like I need to do better, my teammates, myself, everybody. We just all got to do more. Everybody’s got to pitch in, you got to do more, put more on your plate and we got to eat.
 
Q: How’d you use that extra time?
A: Time to just step back for a minute. Take a step back and just – once you’re in it, it’s a lot going on, so sometimes you got to take a step back for a minute, get your mind right, come back in and I’m just happy that I got an opportunity again in a couple of days to play football. All the other stuff is just pass over time. You really – you work 10 hours a day, I say this all the time, 10 hours a day for 60 minutes of football. Those 60 minutes are crucial, so we need to take advantage of every minute of it.
 
Q: Do you have any regrets about anything because you’ve had so much time to now think about it, you guys aren’t winning. Do you have any regrets about any decisions you’ve made?
A: I’ve said this all the time, never have any regrets. At one point in time, it was exactly what you wanted. It is what it is. I don’t believe in everything’s a test or anything like that. Everything’s an opportunity to learn and grow, that’s really it. There’s no more tests. The testing’s over. You’ve prepared for the test, you’ve studied for it. It’s just an opportunity to learn and grow.
 
Q: Do you think you’ve grown from some of the things that have happened in the last couple of weeks?
A: I guess we’ll see Sunday.
 
Q: I mean do you feel like, personally, do you feel?
A: I feel like I’ve grown since last year, but there’s still times where I find myself in this situation, so only time can tell. Enough about talking, words, any of that. It’s all about action.
 
Q: Football wise, obviously everybody tries to take you away. They do the same thing to Julio (Jones) down there as well. Do you study at all what they do to him?
A: When I watch it, it’s different. It’s different what happens to me than other people, but when you got a guy like Julio, not to say no one can cover him one-on-one, it’s a tough challenge. It’s a tough challenge. He’s one of the best, if not the best. He’s the most freakish I’ve seen, so our defense has got a tough challenge ahead going against him, the young buck (Calvin) Ridley, (Mohamed) Sanu. We got a challenge ahead. This isn’t – I don’t know what their record is, 2-4, whatever it is, still the Atlanta Falcons. This a good team we’re going against at home in the dome Monday night. They’re going to be fired up, they need a win. They’re trying to get their season rolling, we’re trying to get ours started, so it’s going to be a battle.
 
Q: In two of the six games, you’ve gotten dehydrated. Is there something going on with that?
A: I’ve always cramped. I’ve always cramped, it’s just I feel like I’m working harder than I ever have, so I really don’t like water. I’m trying, I just really don’t like when you get that stomach feeling, it’s all slushy, like I’m trying to stay hydrated. Sometimes I just got to get an IV, it’s just necessary. You’re cramping in both calves, it’s hard to run and make cuts and if you’re cramping and dehydrated, you’re susceptible to something else, so I’m trying to stay on top of it the best that I can.
 
Q: How do you balance being a good teammate, a leader with the idea that you’ll always hate losing? So I guess what I’m asking is, in times like this, how do you become someone that leads this team out of it?
A: It’s something that I’m working on. Like you said, I hate losing. I don’t care what it is, but I just got to find a way to put that aside and try and rally all of us. That’s all I want to do. Everybody in this locker room, no matter what anyone says, everybody in this locker room knows that I have love for them. I talk to probably everybody in here each and every day, whether I clown with them, try to trip them while they’re walking, mess with them. This is my team, this is our team. I love being around these guys and you come to work every single day, I think all of us hate losing. I don’t think – if you find someone who likes losing, I don’t want to play with them. That’s just it, so we all hate losing, I know we’re tired of it and like I said, we all need to be more, we all need to do better.