BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Browns receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was excused by the team from practice Wednesday.
The Browns are officially listing Beckham's absence on their injury report as "shoulder/non-injury related personal matter."
Beckham was asked not to report for practice and he may also be asked not to return to the team.
“Just felt that was the right thing to do,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday afternoon.
The Browns and Beckham's agents are discussing a potential separation between the two sides, 2 1/2 years following a blockbuster trade between the Browns and Giants to acquire the prolific, yet moody, three-time Pro Bowl receiver.
“They’re having some discussions and we’ll see where this goes,” Stefanski said.
Josina Anderson of CBS Sports and USA Today first reported Beckham being excused from practice.
Beckham’s absence comes a day after his father, Odell Beckham Sr., posted an 11-minute video on Instagram showing Beckham being open and Baker Mayfield not throwing him the ball.
The video was called “Odell Beckham is Always Open for the Cleveland Browns in 2021” and Beckham Sr. also criticized Mayfield while responding to comments on the video post.
LeBron James chimed in on social media Tuesday as well posting: “OBJ will show again why he’s special. WR1 #FreeOBJ” seemingly calling even more attention to the drama.
Stefanski, who has not spoken to Beckham since this whole situation unfolded Tuesday, was asked for his reaction to the video post.
“No reaction. I would just tell you social media in general, I’m not on it, I’m aware of things that are on there,” Stefanski said. “I think in general we talk about ignoring the noise in our building and there are some things with social media that we need to ignore.”
While Stefanski declined to specifically address whether the relationship with the team and Baker Mayfield could be repaired, it appears that it is not salvageable, and the Browns are looking to move on.
“I would tell you that there's a lot of conversations that are ongoing between Andrew [Berry] and his reps and I'm sure there's substantive talk towards all those things,” Stefanski said.
Stefanski disputed Beckham Sr.’s accusation that Mayfield refuses to throw his son the ball.
“I'm not going to go down that road,” Stefanski said. “I'll just tell you that we work really hard to get guys open, get them the ball, share the ball, those are always things that we're thinking about.”
Chemistry issues between Beckham and Mayfield have hovered over the team since the trade.
Beckham reached 1,000 yards in 2019 while playing through a core muscle injury and the Browns went 6-10 during a disastrous season under Freddie Kitchens, who was fired after one year as head coach. Last season Beckham tore his ACL in Week 7. Following the injury Mayfield’s play improved, and the Browns finished the year 7-2 without him, ending the league’s longest playoff drought.
Beckham was inactive Week 1, which caused some friction because the coaching staff game planned for his return against the Chiefs. He was quickly ruled out for the next game, a 31-21 win over the Texans, and returned in Week 3.
Beckham suffered a sprained shoulder against the Cardinals October 17.
Mayfield normally speaks prior to practice on Wednesday's but his availability was pushed back until after practice.