ED BARMAKIAN
Associated Press
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Giants coach Tom Coughlin got together before practice on Tuesday and shared their levels of frustration.
The first-round draft choice out of LSU has been sidelined since the first day of training camp when he aggravated a hamstring injury.
“We just had a discussion, player/coach,” Coughlin said. “I see his frustration and he sees our frustration.
“Don’t make anything more than it is. It’s a coach wanting a player on the field and a player wanting the player on the field. When you’re cleared to play you’ll be ready to go and you’ll earn the respect of your teammates by virtue of what you do on the field and how well you study and work right now.”
Beckham went to see a doctor on Monday and was limited to catching punts on Tuesday.
“We had a talk today,” Beckham said. “I know that I’m new and we don’t know each other that well. Over time you get to know people. The bad part about it is the first impression. You don’t ever want to leave a bad impression.
“I just want to reassure him that he knows how hard it is for me not to be practicing. I’m a high-energy guy. I loved practicing at LSU and I love practicing now. For me, it’s never been about days off, it’s about getting better each and every day.”
Beckham, projected as a complement to wideouts Victor Cruz and Rueben Randle in the starting lineup, hasn’t participated fully in practice since he got tangled with CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie while running a route on the first day of camp.
“(The injury) did surprise me,” Beckham said. “I know how it felt when I stepped on Cromartie’s shoe and I felt a little pinch. It was in open field. My foot got caught in his cleat and I just over-stretched it. It’s not like I got kneed or anything like that. I can do a lot of short stuff, it’s just when I get into top speed.”
Beckham said the doctor’s visit was “preventative,” just to confirm that the injury was what he thought it was.
“When it’s time to go, I only know one speed,” Beckham said. “It’s just one of those things that’s frustrating. You push yourself to limits that sometimes you can’t reach. You can’t really guess how a hamstring is going to react.”
Even though he will miss the Hall of Fame game against Buffalo on Sunday, Beckham says he will play in preseason games.
“I definitely think I’ll be playing in the preseason games,” he said. “You just have to be patient with it and not let you get frustrated or mentally upset. My head is in the right place. It’s just one of those things that takes time.”
NOTES: Near the end of practice RB David Wilson, coming off neck surgery, sustained a “burner,” according to Coughlin and walked off the field with trainer Ronnie Barnes. … “He got a burner,” Coughlin said. “We’ll see. We were all praying that it would be a non-issue and that he’d be able to come back and just go to work. He was cleared. I’m not going to speculate on what it was. I’m going to wait and see what the doctor says. He had a burner. Obviously he was stunned. I didn’t see it. I heard what it might have been, but I better look at the film first.” Wilson is listed as the backup on the depth chart. … The Giants and Buffalo Bills will be the first teams to try kicking extra points from the 15-yard line when they meet Sunday night in Canton, Ohio. The NFL is experimenting with the new distance for PATs for the first two weeks of preseason games. Doug Rosenbaum, in his 14th season as an NFL official, explained that the PAT had become too automatic and the NFL wants to gather information on making the kick longer. Of all the PATs taken last year, 99.7 percent were successful. There were a total of six missed extra points in the NFL last season. … TE Larry Donnell made a nice one-handed catch on a lofted pass into the end zone by QB Eli Manning.
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