WR Odell Beckham Jr. (9.15.20)
WR Odell Beckham Jr.:
On what he and QB Baker Mayfield can do to ensure that they have the needed chemistry:
“Obviously, Sunday was not what we wanted, but more game reps will be the way to go.”
On Mayfield wanting to go to him when he is in single coverage but needing to so naturally:
“I am going to be honest with you, I have never played quarterback so it is very hard to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. As a receiver, you are like, ‘Man, I’m open,’ or this or that. It is just not feasible for me to think about what he may be going through back there if there is pressure or if there are things going on. I know there is a lot on his plate. I know that none of us played the way that we would have wanted to play on Sunday. You kind of just have to give your hats off to the Ravens. They came out there. They were the better team. They beat the [stuff] out of us, and we keep pushing. It was first game, kind of getting a feel for no fans and how the first NFL game will go, and it obviously did not go the way that we wanted, but kind of just toss it up as a mulligan. You have 15 other games, 15 other opportunities and just keep moving.”
On if he likes getting involved early in a game and if that helps momentum:
“Absolutely. It is like a shooter putting up a couple of threes early, and you hit one, two of them like, God knows you might drop 60. This is just how I feel. I would love to get involved early, but it just did not go that way Sunday. Like I said, you have to give your hats off to the other team sometimes. They just came out, and they just played better than us.”
On if he feels comfortable going to the coaching staff and giving them creative ideas for ways he can be involved, particularly early in a game:
“Yes and no. I just kind of feel like it is a tough position to be in. With the way that I feel like I have been misrepresented to the world, it makes it hard and just seem as if ‘Oh, I just want the ball,’ and all these things, when really, I just want to help. I just want to be able to help this team in any way that I can. You kind of get the sense of just playing your role, and you have to trust that the coaches are going to put you in the right position and we are going to be able to go from there. I am not very vocal about that, and that could be my fault and something that I need to learn from. Like I said, again, that was the first game. Whether we got beat by 50 are lost by one point, we still lost, that will be on our record and we learn from it. Just keep it pushing.”
On if he was starting to get frustrated during the second quarter following the facemask penalty before his dropped pass on third-and-2 and his mindset at that point in the game:
“My fingers are just long and they kind of were just in his facemask and there was no way of getting them out. I went to [stiff arm] him, and I think he got pushed this way and my fingers were just in there. Other than that, it is just all about being on the same page. That is just little things where game reps are going to determine it. There is no amount of practice that you could do. It is just how it happens in a game. Just learn from it and move on.”
On if he feels like he has to watch his body language when he is not on the field, given the TV cameras are always fixed on what he is doing:
“That is just the way my life is going. You have to watch everything you do. Everyone is always watching. If you do not have the same reaction that somebody may like, then a story or a headline or whatever it can be written about you. Yeah, that is always tough. That is just the position I am in. I have helped put myself in that position by some mistakes and a lot of by what I did on the field – all the good things that I feel like we often forget about. That has just kind of helped put me in this position where the spotlight is always going to be on me, right, wrong or indifferent, and know that is something you have to deal with, live with.”
On if he feels like he gets overly frustrated sometimes, whether it is not getting the ball or not making a play he wants to make:
“I do not really know how to answer that question. I do not really want to have myself or my team misrepresented in any way so I do not know how to answer that.”
On if his performance against the Ravens being his second-fewest receiving yards in his career and if that motivates him:
“Probably keep it pushing. It is one day at a time. One day at a time. One game at a time.”
On how did he feel Sunday night after the loss, given the offense’s expectations for the first game:
“The same way I felt after any loss. Go to sleep at 5 a.m., just up just thinking. When you want to be at a certain level of greatness or anything like that, anything less or short of that is never going to be acceptable to you. I could sit here like it did not bother me or anything like that – not stats, I just mean as far as the way that the game went – but I would be lying. I definitely would have liked for the game of went a different way. I am just here at a point in my life where I just want to play football and I just want to win, period. There is nothing else that can distract to deter from those goals. I think once I get you all, the world and everyone to understand that I care about one thing – that is winning and producing – I think that you will be able to see some of the other actions and look at it from a different perspective than the perspective of a lot of the names and attachments that have been thrown on me in a way.”
On indications of the Browns offense’s potential:
“At this time, you are just kind of taking it one day at a time. It is a short week so we are kind of flushing it and moving on. Did not necessarily get to watch the film as much as a group as we probably would have liked to, but we have a another big division game coming up. You kind of have to flush it, move on and call it a mulligan, whatever you want to call it, and just keep pushing.”
On if ‘the mulligan’ makes sense given there was such a different offseason and training camp, plus a new coaching staff and personnel:
“Everybody had the same scheduling and setup. It just comes down to producing and making those plays on Sunday. I could sit here and tell you it was tough, but I am sure it was tough for everybody to get out there and play a full game, to get your wind, to be in condition and to withstand just everything. I think everybody has been on the same level as far as handling that so it is just about producing and being able to make it count on Sunday.”
On Bengals QB Joe Burrow, especially given Burrow also went to LSU:
“He is the GOAT – no, I am playing (laughter). He won the ‘ship for us. That was tremendous to be able to see. As I was there and the years before leading up, I felt like LSU always had the best of teams but just could not find a way to put those pieces together. I think he soothed a lot of pain that a lot of us players had felt. He is forever a legend. Happy to see him in the NFL now. Obviously, did not get to watch his first game, but heard that he did pretty well so I am wishing him the best of luck in his career. Obviously, do not want him to beat us, but anywhere else or any other game he plays, I am always rooting for him.”
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