Odell Beckham-FINALLY

By Michael Eisen

Aug. 1, 2014

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Tom Coughlin today said Odell Beckham Jr. might be “a couple, three weeks away” from returning and made it clear he’d prefer not to answer questions on the subject until the rookie wide receiver is back on the field.

“Let’s just let this kid get better,” Coughlin said to reporters following the Giants’ Labor Day practice. “Everybody settle down and let the kid get better. I mean, I went to him and said, ‘Let’s not have any more setbacks.’ Whatever it takes to get over this, let’s do this. Let’s encourage him, let’s not let him feel like he is an outsider, let’s get on with it. But, I mean, to talk about him every day. I will let you know when he is ready to do something, I will let you know.”

Beckham, the Giants’ first-round draft choice this year, missed most of training camp and all five preseason games with a strained hamstring. Coughlin has been asked repeatedly about Beckham and little has changed in weeks. So he explained to reporters why he wants the queries to cease for the foreseeable future.

“Because every day it is the same question over and over,” Coughlin said. “He is not ready to play. He may be a couple, three weeks away, so we are not going to talk about him. We have a game to play. Can we talk about the guys playing in the game, instead of people that are on the injury report? Thank you for bearing with me on that one.”

The Giants open their regular season a week from tonight in Detroit. Beckham did not practice today and seems destined to miss that game.

Beckham understands the Giants don’t want him to suffer a setback that will sideline him for a longer time period. He is appreciative of the support he’s received from Coughlin, who is not always the most patient coach when dealing with injuries.

“It was great to be able to just talk to him and kind of get a reassurance and just know that it’s one of those things that just takes time,.” Beckham said. “Everybody’s okay with it. It’s obviously not something you would want to happen or to be out for an extended period of time. But it’s something we’ve got to deal with and just take it day-by-day.

“It’s great to have the feeling of your coach having your back and having that talk with him and just having a comfortable feeling and just knowing and understanding that this is something that I have to deal with. And when time permits, I will be back out there and ready to play.”

Beckham has had similar injuries in the past, but this one has taken longer to heal.

“(It’s) just lingering,” he said. “It’s not anything different that I could think of, it’s one of those ones that just, you keep re-aggravating it and you’re getting the effects of it now.”

Beckham has been stretching religiously and been running at times. But he won’t get into a position where he can do further damage.

“It’s more comforting to know that (the team’s thinking is), ‘Make sure you get it right,’” Beckham said. “‘Take your time. We don’t know how long that is, but just take your time and make sure that you get it 100 percent this time.’”

*Guard Brandon Mosley sat out practice because of the back injury that kept him out of the final preseason game. But Coughlin remains hopeful that Mosley will be able to work on Thursday.

“It sounded good, but we will see,” Coughlin said. “I would say that he is much better than he was before the start of the weekend, or whatever day this is, and if he continues to make that kind of progress, perhaps he will be able to practice later in the week.”

John Jerry played right guard for most of the game against New England.

“I thought John Jerry, the other night with 50-something snaps, did well,” Coughlin said. “So I think that advanced him.”

*The Giants signed tackle Mark Asper to the practice squad. Asper signed with the Giants on July 29 and played in four of the five preseason games. He was released in the final cutdown on Saturday.

The Giants have eight players on their practice squad and can add two more.