Odell Beckham Jr On Whether He’s Happy In New York: “It’s A Tough Question”

Update:

Jay Glazer reports that Giants HC Pat Shurmur was “absolutely livid” about Odell Beckham Jr’s comments in the interview with ESPN and had him apologize to the team during their Saturday night meeting.

Shurmur reportedly “laid into” Beckham and he responded by apologizing to the team and saying that it was the wrong message to send.

Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr was asked during an interview with ESPN’s Josina Anderson whether he’s truly happy in New York.

“It’s a tough question,” Beckham said. “Obviously, I love seeing the sunshine all the time. I love, you know, I love being in L.A. I just like that atmosphere, but this is where I’m at. I remember before games, I used to get that. I used to get butterflies, like good butterflies. I was anxious. And now when I step on the field, it’s something completely different. It’s not butterflies.

“It’s like I want to be here, like I’ve been waiting to get here this whole time. I feel like a caged animal who gets this — it’s my 60 minutes of playtime. You know, I can play with other people. We can play nice, or we don’t have to play nice. But I get to play, and I get to do all this. This is my time to be out of the cage. You know, if somebody’s messing with me during my time to be out of the cage, like, it’s going to be a problem.”

Beckham was asked whether he thinks the Giants’ offensive issues could be attributed to QB Eli Manning.

“I don’t know,” Beckham said. “Like I said, I feel like he’s not going to get out the pocket. He’s not — we know Eli’s not running it. But is it a matter of time issue? Can he still throw it, yeah, but it’s been pretty safe and it’s been, you know … cool catching shallow [routes] and trying to take it to the house. But I’m, you know, I want to go over the top of somebody.”

Beckham explained that opposing defenses have been successful playing Cover 2 and taking away plays down the field.

“I feel like in the past five years, they found a way to run a Cover 2, keep everything in front, and that’s how they played me,” Beckham said. “And there’s no way to — how do we beat this? I feel like I’m being outschemed, and then I also don’t have a chance to, like, do something where I’ve got to take a slant and go 60. And not to say that’s not fun, but it’s like I want some easy touchdowns too. I watch everybody across the league. All the top receivers get the ball the way that they, you know, should. And if they don’t, they say something about it.”

This comes just a few months after Beckham and the Giants agreed to a record five-year extension.

Beckham, 25, was taken with the No. 12 overall pick by the Giants back in 2014. He played out the final year of his four-year, $10,406,198 contract before the Giants picked up his fifth-year option last year.

Beckham was set to make a base salary of $8,459,000 for the 2018 season when he agreed to a new five-year extension worth up to $95 million and includes $65 million in total guarantees.

In 2018, Beckham has appeared in four games and caught 31 passes for 331 yards receiving and no touchdowns.