Odell Beckham Jr. is ‘shooting himself in the foot’, Brett Favre says
Odell Beckham Jr. of the Giants looks on during the fourth quarter against the Washington Redskins at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016 in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Count Brett Favre among the people who think Odell Beckham Jr. needs to get himself under control.
The Hall of Fame quarterback said during his weekly show on SiriusXM NFL Radio that Beckham needs to settle himself down in order for to get back to the level of play that defined him in his first two seasons – or else he’ll keep costing the Giants yards and possibly games.
“We all know Beckham is a tremendous player, dynamic player, but he’s shooting himself in the foot, which in turn hurts Eli [Manning], which in turn hurts the team,” Favre said. “And I don’t know Odell, so it’s not fair for me to say one way or the other, but I think with Eli, pulling him aside, talking to him, I’m sure he’s done that. But there are some things obviously that Odell is dealing with between himself that he’s got to sort out, figure out to get back to where he’s just playing and leave the other stuff alone.”
Beckham caught three passes for just 23 yards in Monday night’s 24-10 loss to the Vikings and was flagged for taunting in the second quarter against cornerback Xavier Rhodes. After the game, he told reporters that he felt the referees are out to get him and that “I have to assume that I’m always in the wrong no matter what.”
Favre said that it’s fine for Beckham to play with emotion but that he can’t let it go too far to the point where he is drawing flags.
“Being emotional, being a high-intensity or ‘he wears his emotions on his sleeve’, whatever, we’ve heard all those things about all kinds of players,” Favre said. “That’s OK, that’s fine. It can’t disrupt what you’re trying to do either individually or from a team perspective. We’ve all heard ‘conduct detrimental to team,’ that more or less is what is happening. So it’s OK to be emotional. Just channel that into positive play rather than negative.
Favre said Beckham’s Giants teammates – including Manning – need to continue to be there to support him as he works through his issues.
“I think the role of the quarterback is probably many things, probably the least of which would be critical because you have to work hand in hand and I really never saw any benefit in being critical towards your players,” Favre said of his own experience in dealing with frustrated teammates. “I think you have to be supportive to a certain extent, but there’s the quiet time that you spend together, or whatever that may be. ‘Look, man, we need you to get it together and compose yourself.’”
Nick Klopsis is Newsday.com's sports editor. He often can be found studying NFL and college football film for his latest draft breakdown.
