BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – On a chilly, gloomy grey day, the sun peeked through the clouds for a few minutes while Odell Beckham Jr. stood at the podium for the first time since last October.
Coincidence?
Perhaps.
A sign of his return Sunday?
The Browns sure hope so.
“We’ll see,” Beckham said Thursday morning. “I’m taking it a day at a time.”
Beckham appears on track to make his long-awaited return from a torn ACL suffered in Week 7 last October when the Browns host the Bears at FirstEnergy Stadium.
He underwent surgery on November 10.
“Whenever it is, I know I’ll be excited,” Beckham said. “I’ve worked extremely hard to not only get back but improve and to try and be better than I ever have been, so I’m definitely looking forward to it. It’s been a long time. It’s been a long time in putting yourself back together and I’ve my entire team around me though the whole process, great support so and it’s going to be special. It’s been a long time.”
Beckham’s recovery seems remarkable. During training camp he moved around and cut with ease but the Browns held him out of contact and team drills until late August when he started getting some 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work – minus the contact.
They're going to be just as smart about his game reps when he does take the field – this Sunday or whenever he is ready.
“Just have to be smart,” offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said. “Those competitive guys like he is, they are going to want to be on the field a lot when the juices get flowing, but we just have to be smart. It is a long season, and he is just coming back so definitely have to be smart with his reps.”
Leading up to the Week 1 loss at Kansas City, Beckham appeared ready to go but was put on the inactive list following a pregame workout at Arrowhead Stadium.
While it was disappointing, it was not a setback for the three-time Pro Bowl receiver.
“Before the season even came out, the original plan was before even seeing the schedule, it was 11 months post op and now I’m at right around 10 ½,” Beckham said. “So the progression started, I started to progress faster and faster and I was definitely itching. I wanted to go against that team, but it just didn’t happen that day. I’m just following God’s plan and he’s put me in a good place to be here right now, so it’s just a day-by-day process.”
This was the third major surgery that Beckham has had to rehab from during an offseason. First, his ankle in 2017 then a core muscle injury following the 2019 season, his first with the Browns.
It would've been easy for Beckham to retire, but that's just not how he is built or the example he wants to set for kids who may be struggling and contemplating giving up.
“This time it never really crossed my mind,” Beckham said. “I wasn’t going to give up. I’m not the kind of fighter who got knocked out on the last fight and I’m going to hang it up. I’ve got to come out and fight again.”
Beckham used his rehab, or as he called it “spiritual reconstruction,” to refocus.
“I found that I’m just in a way better place,” Beckham said. “My energy, the way that I approach a situation, the way that I approach anything that goes on, I just have a positive outlook on. And it changes everything, you know.
“I come out here, it was a gloomy day and I come out here and then the sun starts shining, you know. It’s about how you look at it. I’ve got a different aura about me at the moment.”
Beckham’s return comes at an opportune time for the Browns, who lost receiver Jarvis Landry for at least three weeks to a sprained MCL suffered on the second play of Sunday’s 31-21 win over the Texans.
“It's like playing phone tag with your best friend,” Beckham said. “I went down in the season last year and we dreamed of being on the same team in the NFL and playing together and then the week where I feel like, alright, let's start, let's look at it, then he goes down.”
If Beckham returns, it could take some pressure off the offense following the loss of Landry, who is quarterback Baker Mayfield's go-to guy.
“If he is available, that will be huge for us,” Van Pelt said. “Losing Jarvis is big – obviously his leadership role and a production role – so having people to fill in and take that space will only help us. Any time you get great players back on the field, it only makes you better for sure.”
Landry's injury did not speed up Beckham’s timetable.
“It didn't speed anything up,” Beckham said. ”He's a guy who can't be replaced, his energy, his presence on this team as a leader, captain on this team, you can't replace him. Just wishing him to get back as fast as possible.”
