Odell Beckham: Gregg Williams instructed players to knock me out of preseason game

Gregg Williams is known by many as the face of the Bountygate scandal that rocked the New Orleans Saints several years ago, and apparently the coach has continued with the same tactics even after he was suspended for his role in it.

Williams is now the defensive coordinator with the New York Jets, and Odell Beckham Jr. told reporters on Thursday that he will be on high alert watching for cheap shots during Sunday’s game between the Jets and Cleveland Browns. Why? Because Beckham says some of his current teammates told him Williams instructed them to take him out of a preseason game two years ago when the star receiver suffered a serious ankle injury.

#Browns Odell Beckham says that dirty hit coached by Gregg Williams changed his life forever pic.twitter.com/CIrWLDQN8f

— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) September 12, 2019

Brown was diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain after taking a low hit from Browns defensive back Briean Boddy-Calhoun. Williams was a member of Cleveland’s coaching staff at the time. Beckham later sustained a fracture to the same ankle in Week 5, ending his season. Here’s a video of the play:

Saints head coach Sean Payton was also suspended for an entire season in 2012 after it was discovered that Williams was paying players to take out opponents, but he has maintained that he knew nothing about it. Williams, on the other hand, was clearly implicated with some disturbing audio clips.

Williams took a job with the then-St. Louis Rams in 2012 but was suspended indefinitely before his first season with the team. He was fired prior to the 2013 season without working a game for the Rams, but he quickly found a job with the Tennessee Titans after being reinstated and later returned to serve as the Rams’ defensive coordinator in 2014. He was named the interim head coach of the Browns last year after Hue Jackson was fired.