BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – While Odell Beckham Jr. is trying to get himself out of Cleveland, most of his Browns teammates want him to stay.
“I feel like the majority of this locker room would love to have him in this building. Flat out,” safety John Johnson said Thursday.
Beckham was excused from practice for a second straight day and his relationship with the Browns and quarterback Baker Mayfield appears to be beyond repair.
On Tuesday, Beckham’s dad posted a video on Instagram showing how many times Beckham has been open this season and then posted disparaging remarks about Mayfield while responding to comments to the post.
Players have said publicly there is no division within the locker room.
“I don't feel that way. I don't get that vibe,” Johnson said. “I just feel like as a competitor, as a player, you want to see your guys have success, you want to see your guys do as well as they can and when that doesn't happen, you obviously feel a certain type of way, but I don't think it's dividing the team any type of way.”
Browns executive vice president of football operations and general manager Andrew Berry has been in contact with Beckham’s representatives, ostensibly to facilitate a divorce, which many players don’t want to happen.
“That’d be great,” Smith said. “I mean, it’s one of those things where it gets personal and business is kind of between the front office and people who make those kinds of decisions. Personally you want the best for him, the best situation for him. That's how I feel whether it's here, if he wants to be somewhere else, whatever he wants and what’s best for him.
“So obviously as a team we’d love to have him, but for me I really don’t spend to much time thinking about it.”
On Wednesday Mayfield said he was willing to put his “ego and pride” aside and work with the receiver again, but Beckham had not spoken to him since the post went up.
The Browns seem intent to keep Beckham out of the locker room in order to prevent Beckham from further dividing the team and pitting players against Mayfield.
“We think he’s a great player when he’s on the field, but we don’t know what the situation is,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “We don’t know what’s really going on. We probably know as much as you guys know from outside the building. But if he wants to come back and be part of the team, I’m sure we’d welcome him with open arms.”
Thursday morning Beckham Sr. doubled down, thanking the producers of the video for putting it together for him likely galvanizing the Browns position to not allow him to return.
Despite the Beckham drama, the message has been consistent the last two days: they're focused on football.
“I don't think it's much of a distraction to us,” Johnson said. “I really didn't even know anything until yesterday morning. I feel like most of the team was in that same boat. I don't think it's too much of a distraction. We've got a big game, division opponent and we're really locked in on that.”