CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – At the end of the 2019 season Odell Beckham Jr. declared that 2020 was going to be his year.
Earlier this year he said “this is my time” in a video of him working out while recovering from core muscle surgery posted to his YouTube channel.
A lot has happened in the world since he made those bold predictions – none of it good which caused him to reevaluate continuing to say that.
“If I would have known [when I said it] that 2020 would have been a year like this, I don’t think I would have ever said that,” Beckham said Thursday during a Zoom video conference with reporters. “It’s been a tough year for all of us emotionally — pandemic, the world that we’re living in. I think it’s been tough on everybody.”
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and unrest that has followed the death of George Floyd and other videos depicting police brutality against African Americans, Beckham expressed his hope that the rest of the year is a vast improvement over the first eight months for the country.
“Now that... everything is seeming as if it is returning back to normal, I think the best thing that this world could do would be to finish this year strong and just find a way to make it the best that it has ever been,” Beckham said. “Kind of just having that mindset of just being great. That is just for the world in general.”
Beckham was mindful not to be so bold about his expectations considering the current climate.
“I don’t know if I would have said that [when I did] knowing what has happened so far, but [my goal is] just making the most out of the rest of this year,” Beckham said.
Captains hooked – The Browns will not have team captains this year.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski is taking a different approach this season and will instead select one captain for each game this season.
“My message to the players is that you don’t need a ‘C’ on your chest to be a great leader,” Stefanski said.
During the offseason, Stefanski established a social justice leadership committee that consists of 11 players – Myles Garrett, Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, Sheldrick Redwine, Chris Hubbard, Kendall Lamm, Charley Hughlett, Joel Bitonio, Larry Ogunjobi and Olivier Vernon.
Stefanski declined to say Thursday who he picked as the Week 1 captain for the opener in Baltimore because he had yet to inform the team.
Value chart – Forbes released its annual NFL franchise valuations Thursday.
The Browns came in at No. 26 out of 32 teams worth an estimated $2.35 billion, an 8% increase from 2019.
The Cowboys remain the most valuable franchise according to the magazine for a 14th consecutive year with a valuation of $5.7 billion while the Bengals are the league’s least valuable franchise worth just $2 billion.
My guy – Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer made it clear Thursday morning the addition of kicker Codey Parkey to the practice squad was for insurance purposes only and not meant to put Austin Seibert on the hot seat.
“If something happened to Austin or if he came back positive, we do not have a chance to bring in a guy and not even work him out but if that happened on a Saturday, we can’t just sign a guy on a Saturday and play on Sunday with the testing rules and all the different protocols,” Priefer said.
“It can’t hurt that Cody is a very good kicker, as well, that he will push Austin a little bit, but Austin is our guy. He is the guy we believe in. He is the guy that is going to help us win games this year. We firmly believe that.”
Quote of the day – “To me, it's like he's playing Madden out there, honestly.” – Browns defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson on Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Injury report – DNP: OT Chris Hubbard (knee), CB Kevin Johnson (liver), CB Greedy Williams (shoulder), LB Mack Wilson (knee); LIMITED: C JC Tretter (knee), DB MJ Stewart (hamstring)