Sterling Shepard was Facetiming with Odell Beckham Jr. throughout the Giants’ open locker room Friday, asking when his pal can be on the facility and joking that “the Feds” — the native media — have been scorching on OBJ’s path.
“I would be lying if I [said] having Odell in the locker room wouldn’t help this team,” Saquon Barkley mentioned at his locker. “We’re in a great spot, but knowing Odell personally, the energy he brings, the swagger he plays with, the playmaking ability he has. The moment he steps in a locker room he automatically makes that team better.”
Beckham’s shut ties to Barkley and Shepard make the Giants a critical contender to signal him after Thursday night time’s dinner with Beckham, possession and staff brass — adopted by a Friday bodily in New York City and a fast afternoon cease in East Rutherford, N.J.
“We had a good dinner,” tight-lipped head coach Brian Daboll mentioned. “I had a great steak.”
However, Beckham left New Jersey with no deal on Friday night time and flew to Buffalo, persevering with his free agent tour with the Bills.
And Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman poured extra chilly water on a Giants reunion by stamping Beckham to the Cowboys as all however assured, in his thoughts.
“I think it happens,” Aikman advised 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas. “I mean, if I was betting, I would bet virtually everything I have on it. I’ve never known Jerry [Jones] to lose a player that he’s wanted … I think second place [in the Beckham sweepstakes] is a distant second place.”
Additionally, Giants captain Julian Love mentioned Friday that he thinks his staff needs to be cautious about making any selections that may mess with the Giants’ present inside dynamic.
“The community would love [Beckham coming back]. I’m pretty much in the middle of it. I can see the pros and cons to it,” Love mentioned on the ‘Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard’ podcast. “He’s clearly a very good participant, however I really feel like everybody appears at sure issues with rose-colored glasses. You keep in mind the great and you may neglect … I simply don’t need something who we usher in to be a distraction ever. And that’s one thing that I feel must be thought of with this.
“I think it’d be great if we could get him on the team and healthy and balling for us,” Love added, “because we are light right now in the receiver room. But at the same time, we got to look at it from all sides and see, ‘Is it a fit?’ Because what might have been a fit four years ago, whenever he was here last — it’s a whole new roster, whole new team right now.”
Giants security Terrell Burgess, Beckham’s teammate on final 12 months’s Super Bowl-winning Los Angeles Rams, mentioned he realized final season that OBJ’s status was unfounded and that he was a terrific individual and participant.
“It’s funny because before then, all people would talk about was the media and him in Cleveland, him here the first time,” Burgess mentioned. “And I really feel like instantly I noticed that not every little thing that was put out into the media was true. He’s a very good individual, good dude, humorous, nice teammate.
“Every receiver I’ve met in my life wants the ball, but he understood the situation he was coming into, especially with the season Cooper [Kupp] was having,” Burgess continued. “So he was a great teammate, positive, and he helped the offense. And I think wherever he goes he’ll be a help to any offense.”
Burgess additionally smiled broadly and talked about essentially the most pertinent truth to Beckham’s present free agent tour: his confirmed manufacturing.
“I feel like if he didn’t get hurt in the Super Bowl, he was primed for an amazing game,” Burgess mentioned with amusing.
That’s the explanation Beckham’s free agent tour is getting a lot consideration, alongside along with his worldwide star energy. He simply contributed in a significant approach to the Rams profitable the Super Bowl.
Giants receivers coach Mike Groh, who was Alabama’s wideouts coach in 2011-12 when OBJ starred at LSU, even lobbied Friday for a receiver who he referred to as “pretty spectacular.”
“We all know that Odell has a unique skill set,” Groh mentioned. “[There’s] his ability and body control to make contested plays, the natural hands that he’s got and the juice to go the distance whether you catch a deep ball or catch a short one and make a long run. He’s been a very productive player wherever he’s been.”
Of course, it’s not clear the place Beckham’s twice-torn left ACL is. And it was arduous to grasp simply how enthusiastic the Giants have been on this pursuit from Daboll’s inflexible and rehearsed assertion.
“I know you guys will have a lot of questions, I’m sure, about Odell,” Daboll mentioned. “And here’s what I would say about that: We had dinner with him last night, we had a good visit, and really other than that, I have nothing else to add.”
The Giants did fly Beckham in for his go to on a non-public jet to keep away from any extra seatbelt snafus, in order that they confirmed him some love. Shepard additionally received to hang around with Beckham after the dinner a bit and watch among the Patriots-Bills sport.
“We were watching the game and that was one of the big things he was saying: he just wants to get back to balling,” Shepard mentioned.
But whereas Beckham is intrigued by a doable reunion with the Giants, Shepard wasn’t positive that having Barkley and him nonetheless on the roster can be sufficient to lure him dwelling.
“I think that it has something to do with it, for sure,” Shepard mentioned of the impression of their relationships. “But he’s gotta do what’s best for him and his family. So we all understand that, and he’ll make that decision for him and his family.”
GIANTS GAME STATUSES
Out: CB Adoree Jackson (knee), LG Josh Ezeudu (neck), LG Shane Lemieux (toe). Questionable: WR Darius Slayton (sickness), C Jon Feliciano (neck), TE Daniel Bellinger (eye), CB Fabian Moreau (indirect), CB Darnay Holmes (shoulder), LB Carter Coughlin (thigh), S Dane Belton (clavicle), RB Gary Brightwell (sickness), WR Richie James (knee).
WASHINGTON GAME STATUSES
Out: G Trai Turner (knee/ankle), CB Benjamin St.-Juste (ankle), WR Dax Milne (foot). Limited: DE Chase Young (knee), RB Antonio Gibson (foot).
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Source: www.bostonherald.com