Odell Beckham’s first season has not gone according to plan with the Cleveland Browns, leading to rumors running rampant about his future with the team.
Beckham, who is signed through 2023 on his lucrative deal he inked while with the Giants, gave a fairly cryptic response about what he sees down the line when he addressed the media on Thursday in Berea.
“No one knows what the future holds tomorrow. I couldn’t tell you what’s going to happen,” Beckham told reporters on Thursday. “I couldn’t tell you. My locker is right next to one of the people that mean the most to me in the world (Jarvis Landry). I think about coming to work and seeing him every single day and how special this could be, so I couldn’t sit here and tell you whether I’m going to be here, want to be here, don’t want to be here. This is exactly where I’m at right now, and I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. God has a plan. In the offseason, everything will figure itself out.”
Odell Beckham Looking for Strong Finish to the Season
Beckham has caught 57 passes for 805 yards and two touchdowns in a season that has seen more frustrating moments than highlight reel plays.
“I feel like I’ve been here before, asking questions about the next team while I’m on a team already,” Beckham said. “That’s just something that I’m just going to tune out right now. Catch me in the offseason and we’ll see what happens.”
The Browns are a long-shot to make the playoffs at 5-7, but Beckham just wants to finish the season off strong.
“I’ve taken a lot of L’s this year. I think for everybody, there’s been a lot of disappointment.
“I just care about winning and hopefully getting a shot to go to the playoffs,” Beckham said. “That’s the goal. So all the stats and all that, that’s been out the window for me. I’m just trying to finish the season strong with the most wins we could possibly have.”
The bar is obviously very high for Beckham, and as he points out, a 1,000-yard season is still a “bad year” from him. He’s bullish on what the future holds.
“2020 is going to be my year,” Beckham said.
Odell Beckham Keeping Himself in Check
Beckham became known for his outburst during his times with the Giants and he didn’t have the closest relationship with quarterback Eli Manning.
Despite the lack of stats, Beckham has repeatedly backed quarterback Backer Mayfield and complemented him for his leadership abilities. Beckham said that improving as a teammate and keeping himself “in check” was his focus when he got a fresh start in Cleveland.
“It’s definitely been a concerted effort from me to keep myself in check,” Beckham told reporters. “I know that everyone watching… they want to see me mad or throw a helmet or punch a cooler or hug a kicking net or hit the kicking net. They want to see those things but it’s on me and I’ve made that effort and that decision and that choice to just not allow that, no matter what.”
Mayfield knows his chemistry with OBJ is a work in progress and understands any frustrations his star pass-catcher might have.
“He really just wants to win when it comes to it,” Mayfield said. “Anytime you are losing, it is frustrating, and it is not fun so he wants to help out in any way he can, so we have to try and find ways to get him the ball.
“There have been a few things that are off here and there or else we would have some bigger plays and a lot more connections.”
The Browns have a chance to turn things around this week against the one-win Bengals.
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