Giants coaches say Odell Beckham Jr. needed to use 'third hand' to make crucial catch
Odell Beckham #13 of the New York Giants can't hold onto the ball in the end zone late in the fourth quarter against Malcolm Butler #21 of the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015 in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Tom Coughlin absolved Odell Beckham Jr. of costing the Giants Sunday's game against the Patriots. But he did think the second-year receiver should have held onto the would-be touchdown that was knocked away from him and overturned in review.
"Securing the ball properly right away as the second move rather than holding the ball away from your body, he learned a difficult lesson and I'm sure it'll stick with him," Coughlin said.
Beckham had two hands on the ball. Wide receivers coach Sean Ryan said he needed to get his "third hand" on it. In other words, his body.
"At the end of the day, just bring it down, put it in the third hand, keep it within the framework of your body and it is protected and we will be good," Ryan said. "He knows it, we talked about it. He came off the sideline and acknowledged the fact that the ball should have ended up in his hands and it would not have been an issue."
Beckham often extends the football rather than pulling it in to keep it away from defenders, and it's a technique that has worked in the past. This time it did not.
"It's not something that I teach," said Coughlin, himself a former receivers coach. "Get the ball into a secure position in your body. In other words, what's the difference if you're carrying the ball out here [on the side] or you're carrying the ball out here [in front of you but away from the body]? It's in a slappable position, whereas if you have it in here, you've got it well protected within the grasp of your arm, your body and your extra arm can help, too. He'll learn from that."
Coughlin said as they came off the field on Sunday, Beckham told him what he later told reporters in the locker room, that he felt he cost the Giants the win.
"I don't believe that," Coughlin said. "There is no one individual that is responsible, we're all responsible."
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
