With less than a week remaining until the New York Giants kick off their 2014 season, Tom Coughlin is sick of fielding questions about his first-round draft pick. When a reporter asked about Odell Beckham Jr. — who has battled hamstring injuries throughout the offseason — on Monday, Coughlin went off.
“Why don’t we … let’s just let this kid get better, OK?” Coughlin began, per Conor Orr of The Star-Ledger. “Everybody, settle down and let the kid get better.”
What Coughlin said next made it difficult to determine if he is more frustrated with the media or Beckham’s inability to get healthy.
“I mean, I went to him yesterday and said, ‘Look, let’s just not have any more setbacks. Whatever it takes to get over this, let’s do this. Let’s encourage him and not let him feel like he’s an outsider, let’s get on with it,'” Coughlin said. “But, I mean, to talk about it every day, I’ll let you know when he’s ready to do something. I’ll let you know.”
A reporter then asked Coughlin why he felt the need to get defensive, at which point the 68-year-old head coach admitted Beckham might be a few weeks away from playing.
“Because it’s every day,” he said. “It’s the same question over and over. He is not ready to play. He may be a couple, three weeks away. So we’re not going to talk about him. We have a game to play. Can we talk about the guys playing in the game, instead of just the people on the injury report? Thank you for bearing with me on that.”
Beckham re-injured his hamstring on Aug. 19, though the Giants later insisted the rookie did not have a setback. He has not practiced since, and Beckham said he doesn’t even remember why he stopped practicing to begin with. The situation has been extremely cloudy, plus Beckham is a 12th overall pick. That’s why reporters keep asking.
If they ask again on Tuesday, Coughlin might really blow a gasket.
