Odell Beckham Jr. got his first real look with the Giants’ top offense on Tuesday, and that alone made it a notable day in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
After spending the first week of camp with only limited chances alongside the starters - and barely seeing the ball overall - Beckham lined up with Jaxson Dart’s first-team unit and finally got a chance to show more of what he can still do. Early on, he settled into space in the middle of the field, caught a pass from Dart, and kept stacking solid reps from there with a couple more grabs as the day went on.
A few factors opened the door. Juju Smith-Schuster sat out with knee swelling, while Darius Slayton and rookie Malachi Fields didn’t do much. That left room for Beckham to get more involved after spending much of camp waiting his turn.
He had mostly been working with Jameis Winston before Tuesday, and even when he was on the field, the looks were limited. At times he was sent on clear-out routes to create room underneath for someone else.
At other times the quarterbacks simply didn’t find him, or they missed on deep chances. Both Dart and Winston have tried to test him down the field, but the connection has been hit or miss.
Tuesday was no clean breakout, though. Dart has had trouble completing passes consistently, and one attempt to Beckham from the 3-yard line sailed incomplete.
Even so, Beckham still flashed the burst and route savvy that have kept him in the conversation. He looked sharp on deep crossers and showed he can still get vertical.
“I feel like he looked like O,” tight end Isaiah Likely said. “I joke with O all the time… The young guys ask him how he did it the right way when he was at the top of the top, prime Odell, everything.
And then obviously, the dark days Odell, which he’ll tell you, as well. And really just how he stayed the course and really just honed in and understanding that when he’s out here, he’s giving you the best version of himself.”
With Malik Nabers still out of team drills - though he did more individual work on Tuesday - Beckham should keep getting opportunities if the staff wants to see what he has left.
Elsewhere, Dalen Cambre turned in a strong day catching passes from Winston. Winston also threw an end zone interception to Jason Pinnock, then got an extra snap and answered with a touchdown pass to Ryan Miller.
The offense also got off to a rough start with penalties, piling up four in the first 21 snaps across both the first and second units. False starts were charged to Darnell Mooney, Francis Mauigoa and Josh Ezeudu.
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