Odell Beckham's pass play planned for a while
Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants warming up before an NFL game Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. Credit: Getty Images / Wesley Hitt
Giants rookie receiver Odell Beckham Jr. threw his first NFL pass last week against the Titans, a deep incompletion intended for Rueben Randle. But that play has been in the works for a long time, offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo said Thursday. And there will likely be more to come.
"We've had it oiled up for a little while," McAdoo said. "It's probably been in, I don't want to say Atlanta we put it in, his first week back, but we had it in pretty early. We've repped it a bunch. He had someone downhill on him pretty quick, so he didn't have a chance to work his way through the progressions like he would have wanted, but it was good to take a shot there."
Even though the play wasn't successful, McAdoo suggested it was effective.
"Any time you throw a deceptive, you'd sure like to hit it but with that being said, they're like screens - any time you call one, it helps you," he said. "It slows down the pursuit ... We feel, in the long run, those types of plays will help us."
McAdoo said the Giants knew of Beckham's ability to throw the ball when they drafted him.
"Coming in, we knew he was a good athlete," he said. "He's done a lot of things in his past to help prepare for different opponents and things like that. He's a talented young man. The more you can do in this league ... "
It seems like Beckham can do more than most. But the option pass certainly caught the Titans and long-time observers of the Giants by surprise. It was the first time someone other than a quarterback has thrown a pass in some time, and the first time someone other than Eli Manning has done so with Manning on the field since he came to the team in 2004.
It was, in short, a very un-Coughlin call. Did McAdoo have to get the green light from the head coach before he dialed that one up?
"Coach is involved in everything we do, absolutely," McAdoo said. "You don't ever want to make a call like that without the head coach being involved."
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.
