EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Odell Beckham Jr. hesitated, putting a double move on the cornerback, then went streaking down the left sideline during Wednesday’s New York Giants OTA. Quarterback Jameis Winston hoisted a long ball toward Beckham down the left sideline.
This was Beckham’s first 11-on-11 snap in the first practice attended by media since Beckham re-signed with the Giants on Monday. In the storybooks, Beckham makes a spectacular one-handed catch and goes for a touchdown.
This, though, was not
a storybook. It was football practice, and Deonte Banks had other plans. The ball, Beckham, Banks and the sideline all came together, with Beckham getting his hands on Winston’s pass, but Banks making sure the ball fell harmlessly to the ground.
Beckham got up slowly and walked back to the offense, holding a towel to his mouth to perhaps dry a little bit of blood.
Later in practice, third-string quarterback Brandon Allen tried to target Beckham across the middle. Instead, he threw the ball right to safety Raheem Layne. Beckham, doing what a wide receiver should do to bail out his quarterback, crashed into Layne and made sure the play was a simple incompletion rather than the interception it should have been.
You could consider these, while not big hits in full pads during a real game, “welcome back to football” moments for Beckham in his second practice since re-signing with the team that made him a first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
Beckham, remember, was out of football in 2025.
“They hit harder than my son. My son’s been beating me up,” Beckham said. “I think it’s still people don’t want to get beat by me. So, they’re going to make sure that they do what they can.
“But, it feels good. It’s football. It’s definitely been a minute, but it feels good. It’s fun. I’ve been needing it. I’ve been missing it.”
Older, more appreciative
The Beckham that stood in front of New York media on Wednesday was a familiar face. He no longer seems like the brash superstar who dominated the league and used that to become an international celebrity. This was a Beckham who was out of football in 2025 when he did not really want to be, who played just nine games and caught just nine passes in 2024.
This was a Beckham who has not truly been a superstar in a loooong time.
“ I had a lot of time off to … Taking a step away from the game was what was best for me,” said Beckham, who will turn 34 in November. “At a time in my life where you love something so much that it kind of became detrimental, became bad to me. And just being able to take that time off and be with my son and be with family and just reprioritize what was important to me. And knowing that I still love this game so much.
It felt great just being back out there, being back in the building, just on this field, looking at this stadium. It’s a pretty surreal feeling.“
Beckham understands that he is not being handed a job, just an opportunity to earn a job.
“Nothing was given to me,” Beckham said. “So, I came here to earn it, just work hard every day and be the best that I can for the team.
“I can’t think of a single thing in my life that was given to me. Everything was earned, and I really wouldn’t want it any other way.”
‘You can’t be just OK. You’re Odell Beckham’
Giants coach John Harbaugh said a few times in recent weeks that a return to the Giants, where Beckham starred from 2014-2018, had to be right for both the team and the player. Harbaugh had also said that while he felt Beckham could make an NFL team, he wasn’t sure that the 33-year-old could make an impact on one.
That was part of Harbaugh’s hesitation in signing off on signing Beckham.
“I told him, you just can’t be okay. You’re Odell Beckham,” Harbaugh said. “You’ve got to come out here, and you’ve got to be performing at a high, high level in a workout. You’ve got to be performing at a high level in practice.
“You’ve got to be a guy that’s capable that we can see would have a chance to make a difference in NFL games. You’ve got to be that kind of a player. Who knows better what that kind of a player is than Odell Beckham?”
Harbaugh still isn’t sure what Beckham can be 12 years and a bunch of surgeries after he took the NFL by storm.
“We’re going to find out over the course of the next week and then training camp if that’s going to be something he’s going to be able to do for the team,” Harbaugh said. “If he can, great. If he can’t, then that’s okay too. He’ll have taken his shot.”
Beckham understands he is no longer the focal point.
“I’m still moving at 20, 21 miles an hour. I’m still finding ways to get open,” he said. “It’s just like it’s not going to be the 195-pound, 2014, number one receiver who knows the ball is coming to him every single time.
“I could kind of, you know, cheat with a lot of things. It will be very attentive to detail, very locked in and knowing like, okay, this is your opportunity. It’s just a different game, but I’m still ready.”
‘I had to do this’
Beckham has been angling for this return for a while. Harbaugh has admitted being in regular contact with Beckham, who played for him with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. Sometimes, the two would communicate several times a week.
Can Beckham still be ODELL BECKHAM? What does he have left in the tank? Even he isn’t sure. Asked what he is now, Beckham simply said “a veteran.”
“I look at all the numbers, and I’m still just as fast, as fast, faster,” Beckham said. “I think for me, my whole life, for better or for worse, is pushing it to the limit. And just the way that I had to walk away, it was just unsettling in my soul and my spirit. It’s not who I am.
“I’ve never surrendered or quit or felt like I’d given up on myself or anything. And it just wasn’t sitting with me well. So I had to do this.”
Best-case scenario
“Play well, win a Super Bowl. That’s the best case. That’s what you want to do,” Beckham said when asked how he would like to see this stint in New York go. “I used to be in here looking at these banners, and all I ever wanted to do for this place was win … I never wanted to leave here … I’m just trying to be whatever I can for this team and be the best version of myself.”
Beckham is grateful for the chance to wear a Giants uniform again, whether or not it is the last stop in his decorated career.
“Just being able to be here and see Mr. Mara, it’s like I said, I want to win it, but it’s like I want to do it bad for this family,” Beckham said. “This family brought me in. They gave me my first opportunity, something I’ll forever be grateful for, so many amazing memories.
“My life was here, and I never thought I’d be anywhere else, so just to even have the opportunity to put a jersey and a helmet back on … I want to do it for that family, for this building, for Giant Nation. This was my squad.”
Storybook ending?
Just like that incomplete pass in Wednesday’s practice, the storybook ending sometimes doesn’t materialize. Beckham understands this may not turn out the way he wants it to.
“God’s given me one more opportunity to play, and whatever I do with that is that,” Beckham said. “I’m not saying that this is my only year, and I’m not saying that I got five more for you.
“I’m just looking at it like this is my opportunity now, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
If this comeback does not work, Beckham said he will still be happy because he is “going out on my sword.”
“I like it this way. I feel like it’s going to elevate me,” Beckham said. “It’s going to bring me up to have to earn it. Coach and I talked about that. I think that was one of his fears.
“He was like, I love you so much, and I got so much respect for you. I don’t want to bring you here and then have to cut you or whatever. And I’m like, listen, I’m going out on my sword.
“Either way it goes. So, if that’s what you got to do and you see that I’m not best or fit, then by all means, I’m good with it. I can live with it. I can’t live with sitting at home not doing it. I just couldn’t do it.”
