Jerry Reese Squashes Notion that Beckham Played Hurt
By Justin Groc
Back in late January following the 2015 NFL Pro Bowl, New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. let it be known that he played through two hamstring tears. The tears were suffered just prior to the 2014 season. The first tear happened during spring mini-camps while the second incident occurred just prior to the preseason game against the New York Jets. Even general manager Jerry Reese was surprised to hear about Beckham’s revelation.
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“Well, I was never really healthy this season anyway,” said Beckham following the Pro Bowl. “I was just trying to manage and maintain it the best I could all year” (Jordan Raanan, NJ.com).
Beckham would go on to post 91 catches for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns — all in only 12 games of action during the season. The injuries forced him to miss the first four games of the regular season along with many training camp practices prior to.
During Saturday while holding a press conference at the 2015 NFL Combine, Reese let it be known what really went down.
"“I don’t know about that,” Reese said in regards to Beckham potentially having played while injured. “I think he was trying to be a hero. I don’t think you can run fast like that with two torn hamstrings“According to our doctors, it was healed up. He may have gotten fatigued later in the season. But I don’t think you can go out and run like that if you’ve got a couple torn hamstrings.”(Nick Powell, NJ.com)"
After the Pro Bowl, Beckham went on to say that his injuries caused his hamstrings to never be alright throughout the season. Reese, on Saturday, would go on to say that if the tears were that significant then the Giants would have never allowed Beckham to participate in the Pro Bowl.
There is no doubt that Beckham played at less than 100-percent. With the fascination that was Beckham during 2014, the media was all over him since he was such a hot topic. The one-handed touchdown catch over Dallas Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr certainly catapulted Beckham’s presence. Just following that catch, Vines of Beckham’s one-handed catches during warmups spread in addition to his ability to kick field goals as well.
To put things in a better perspective, Beckham was healthy enough to perform and the Giants would never put their players in danger of even more potential for harm. He had a sensational season and not just for a rookie either. Perhaps we can chalk up Beckham’s comments as to a rookie mistake since perhaps he could have worded things a bit differently.