WR Odell Beckham Jr. -- December 6, 2018
Q: On heading into Washington 4-8:
A: I’m excited about Washington. Another opportunity to go out there Sunday and do what we do. Since the bye week, we’ve been playing at a very, very high level and I just hope that we can continue that. That’s really all that we can do at this point. Leave the rest of the season up to everybody else and just focus on what we can control, which is our games, winning our games, and see what happens. Not really much more to say than that.
Q: How much do you relish the opportunities like when the coach calls that play for you to throw a pass, Carolina and last week? Even when you hear the call come in, what goes through your mind about how much of a difference you can make on plays like that?
A: I would say a very anxious feeling just knowing that you got the opportunity to make a play. I told Bennie (Fowler) all week, I was like I don’t care what happens, I don’t care what happens, I’m throwing it to you. They really doubled him, like big time doubled him. I was going to take off running, I kind of just picked my head up and saw him down there, so anytime I get a chance to throw the ball, I love it. I think quarterback is maybe one of the most fun positions. I know it’s a lot of work and it’s very hard, but there’s no feeling like throwing a touchdown pass, I don’t feel like. Catching one is cool, but throwing one is a lot more special.
Q: What’s it say about this team that even after 1-7 and losing to Philly that you guys would hang around and beat a team in overtime like the Bears and there was no give up and no quit?
A: Kind of the last thing you said that there is no give up. There’s no quit in this team and even early on in the season, we never quit. I guess maybe they just fought harder than us. We lost those games three, four points, five points, instead of winning them. Maybe if we dug down one or two series more, the outcome would’ve been different, but that’s NFL football. This team’s got a lot of fight in them and we’ve been showing that a lot more since the bye week.
Q: So many guys were hurt in the game and they found a way to get back on the field and help out-
A: Like (Sterling) Shep?
Q: Yeah like Sterling and then (Landon) Collins –
A: Yeah Landon – I remember Landon, he messed his shoulder up on one play and he went into the locker room and I saw him come back out and he was telling me he was like, I don’t know, I don’t know. I was like, ‘bro, we need you, we just need you, the game’s almost over, we need to go and make one more stop’, and just to see that fight that he has and for Shep, what he was dealing with, I had what he’s dealt with before. It’s your ribs and it’s doing all those things, so it’s great to see guys just never give up, go out here and give it all for their team. Kind of reminds me of I feel like last year when I was hurt, like there was a part of me that I know like I shouldn’t have been playing as early as I was, I shouldn’t have been back. I’m in the locker room with these guys everyday and the season finally rolled around, you don’t want to feel like you’re letting anybody down. I think that’s probably one of the toughest positions to be in where you have to choose do I take care of myself, my family, my future or do I give it for the team and to see those guys do that, it’s a great thing.
Q: What’s your reaction to seeing Landon go down for the season? Obviously you can relate because you went through that last year.
A: Before it happened, I was already talking to him and just he felt like he was in a tough situation to risk something that could’ve been worse. You never know what that could’ve lead to. Now he’s playing out there and in the back of his mind he’s thinking something about his shoulder and then something worse happens, so that’s just the decision him and his family had to make and at the end of the day, I feel like he’s always going to make the decision that’s best for him and his future and I’m just hoping recovery goes well. He obviously can bounce back. He’s just one of those guys who’s different, so it’s unfortunate. I wish we had him for the rest of the season. He’s our captain, he’s our leader and he will be missed.
Q: How important is it for you to have his back?
A: This is a guy I remember when draft time came around, I felt like I spoke it into existence. I wanted him to be here. I was like, man, we got to get Collins and second pick, second round – right? First round?
Q: Top of the round. First pick, second round.
A: Something like that. We got him and this was a guy who I knew what we were getting. We played him in college, I tried to catch him a few times while he wasn’t looking, but he always seemed to find me at the last minute, so it’s tough. This is a guy who I’ve been playing seven-on-seven with since we was in high school and just to see him go down, it’s not easy for any of us, but it’s football and it’s life and it happens.
Q: Is there any sense of “what if” going into this game? If you had beaten Philly going into this game, you got Dallas at home –
A: Trust me, I think about it all the time. When I said what I said, it wasn’t like just saying this for any reason, attention of any kind to make a story. It’s just what I believed and the way that we played, what I believed was pretty much right there in front of us except for us not finishing that Philly game, which I just hope that it’s not the one that’s going to haunt us. At this point, we really can only focus on Washington. There’s no ‘what if’. We’re going out there to win and if our season’s over, I’m making sure somebody else is coming home with us, that’s the goal. The goal is to win all these games and see what happens, but if not, you’re going to have a tough game to play against us for the last four games.
Q: How much pride do you take in a block like you made in overtime on Saquon’s (Barkley) big run and then also how tough is blocking for him because he’s so unpredictable? He can be on the opposite side of the field and then all of a sudden he’s on your back.
A: He’s just that different, he’s that special. To be honest, me and my mom talk about it all the time like I haven’t had that one block where I like – I mean, I had a block, but I mean a real good one. Not just got in somebody’s way and stopped him on Philly like right before he scored and then where I went to the heater and I was trying to get myself hyped up, which is right after I got a block for him after he scored, but that one in overtime, I’m seeing – I remember (Kyle) Fuller was out there, he bounced it and I just heard Fuller say, ‘oh, shit.’ I tried to push him out of the way and when he went out of bounds, I’m like alright I’m going to try and get (Eddie) Jackson and if I could’ve maybe just laid it all out there and got that one block, he could’ve sprung down the sideline and scored. Those moments are special. Everybody’s up front blocking. To sustain a block down field is not a very easy thing to do. Especially with him back there, we’re running a play to the left, he’s bouncing all the way back right or he’s running all the way right and bouncing all the way back left. Like I did in the Philly game, sometimes it’s best to get out of his way. He’s going to make everybody right and he’s going to get to that end zone.
Q: In terms of when you do get an opportunity to pass, do you need to know that ahead of time? Do you need to like warm up or anything?
A: Coach (Mike) Shula came up to me before the game and he’s like, you know can you throw a wet ball with your gloves on and I’m like, coach, don’t worry about it, I got this. Just joking, but dead serious at the same time and the opportunity came up. He’s like, don’t go adjusting your gloves and letting them know you’re going to throw it. Don’t worry about it, I’m going to throw this ball. Either way it goes, I’m going to make a play or I wouldn’t throw it away. I don’t want to mess up my perfect QBR.
Q: Do you have to watch your body language on plays like that?
A: I think you got to watch your body language on any plays, but yeah more specifically, I don’t want to give it away like I’m about to do something tricky, so anytime you see me catch a reverse, it’s all eyes like – and they covered him up and I just remember seeing (Russell) Shep running down the field and I was like something’s just – this can’t be real. We looked at each other and it was like, this is my guy. I went to college with him. He helped become the man I am today. He was always there for me and to be able to throw it to him of all people. I called him after the game and I was like, ‘bro, I feel like I had a terrible game, there’s things I could’ve done here, but you made my day. That made my day to see you just catch a touchdown.’ It was a good feeling.
