Jacksonville Jaguars All-Pro CB Jalen Ramsey made headlines recently when he went after several quarterbacks around the NFL in an interview with GQ Magazine, one of which was Giants QB Eli Manning.
Given his history of trash-talking corners, specifically Josh Norman, many expected Giants star WR Odell Beckham Jr. to respond to Ramsey's comments leading up to New York's season opener against Jacksonville.
However the 25-year-old took the high road with Ramsey, refusing to get into a war of words with the young corner.
"I think I learned my lesson," Beckham Jr. told reporters after practice Wednesday. "But, this is probably, if not the best, one of the best corners in the league. There's no way around it and this defense that they have-- they have six or seven Pro Bowlers, maybe more, on the team. They have a very good scheme. They're probably the best defense in the NFL. So we have a very tough challenge ahead of us."
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The maturity Beckham showed Wednesday should come as a welcome sign of growth to the Giants, who just rewarded the receiver with a five-year contract extension worth up to $95 million.
Ramsey's comments about Manning were certainly unflattering, saying, "It's not really Eli. I think it's Odell. I won't say Eli's good, I'll say Odell's good. And their connection is good."
Despite the young corner putting out the bait, Beckham refused to bite, instead deciding to talk about his excitement towards finally returning to the field with the Giants.
"Yeah, definitely," Beckham said when asked if he's looking forward to the matchup against Ramsey Sunday. "Honestly, I'm moreso looking forward to just playing football again to be real with you. But yes, it is an exciting matchup. It's a good test for yourself in the first game against the best defense in the league, I would say."
Beckham has not appeared in a game since fracturing his ankle in Week 5 of the 2017 season. The three-time Pro Bowler has looked to be at full speed and strength during practice, but the Giants decided to keep their star receiver out of all four preseason contests as he made his full recovery from last year's gruesome injury.
Although it occurred three seasons ago, Beckham's incident with Norman is still brought up by the receiver's critics. The 25-year-old wound up serving a one-game suspension for his actions on the field that day, but appears to have learned from his previous mistakes.
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"It was all set up to happen what exactly happened," Beckham said in reference to the media helping to exacerbate the tension between him and Norman leading up to the infamous matchup. "And I kind of just- I'm seeing things different now, and just knowing that it is going to be a matchup, but it's not something that, it's not going to be something where history repeats itself.
"I took the cheese, and I can't be mad that anything happened, I bit on it."
Odell Beckham Jr. and the Giants will welcome Jalen Ramsey and the Jaguars to MetLife Stadium Sunday at 1pm.