There’s a strong possibility that Odell Beckham Jr. may not be available for the New York Giants on Sunday at the Indianapolis Colts.
And as they prep for this weekend’s game, the Colts know what a big loss Beckham’s absence could potentially be for the Giants.
Beckham didn’t practice again on Wednesday, out with a quad injury. Having suffered the injury three weeks ago against the Philadelphia Eagles, he played the next week in a win over the Chicago Bears and even had a receiving touchdown. But he’s missed the last two games with the injury and is poised to miss the Giants’ next game at the Colts.
Despite missing the past two games, Beckham leads the Giants with 77 receptions for 1,052 yards and six receiving touchdowns. No one will likely eclipse him this season on the Giants’ roster even if he should miss the rest of the year.
The star wideout’s impact isn’t lost on the Colts.
“He’s a unique player, and any time you take someone of that ability, if he’s not there, that’s a big hole to fill,” Colts head coach Frank Reich said on Wednesday in a conference call with the New York media. “But what you learn in this business is, everybody is still replaceable.”
“It’s a team game, and I know when we lose big pieces, you still believe, you still know that you can get the job done, you believe in your other players, so we know they’ve got plenty of weapons there. He’s certainly a great player and deserves that respect, but they have plenty of really good players.”
For the 5-9 Giants, the team is playing out the string after having been officially been eliminated from playoff contention following Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans. Head coach Pat Shurmur though is trying to build momentum for next year and a strong close to the season is important as this team continues to rebuild.
Having Beckham on the field could help the Giants get another win from the season’s final two games. It would be an important mental accomplishment for this team as it would double their winning total from last year.
As such, Shurmur said that they aren’t prepared to shutdown Beckham at this point.
“I think it’s important that all the healthy players are ready to play in the game,” Shurmur said. “I guess that question leads into that these two games aren’t important, and I don’t believe that,” “I think what’s important is that we as a team do everything we can to go out there and play the game and try to win the game. Running parallel with all the thoughts moving forward in the offseason is this team trying to learn how to win again. And again, I’m speaking as the coach, where we’re doing everything in our power to put a plan together to win the game. That requires that all the players do everything in their power if they’re injured to make it back for the game, and then if for some reason they can’t, then you do it for the next week. So that’s the philosophy.”
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