After being places on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list to begin the season, Odell Beckham Jr. is seemingly not spending a whole lot of time at the Miami Dolphins practice facility these days. At least not according to Tyreek Hill. Asked how Beckham was doing with his rehabilitation (via a reporter question prefaced with the fact that Beckham did not want to be placed onto the PUP list) Hill replied that he “hadn’t seen him in a week.”
Hill, realizing that he just leaked something he shouldn’t have, then looked off to the side and twice said: “I wasn’t supposed to say that.”
You be the judge: Did Tyreek Hill genuinely mess up by revealing Odell Beckham Jr. hasn’t been in the building since he was placed on PUP to then backtrack in a humorous way or is he trolling with the whole thing?
(Video from Dolphins) https://t.co/eyFpVsKbJK pic.twitter.com/HsdeKj5px4
— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) September 2, 2024
After the second time, the man who just topped the NFL 100 rankings (a list of the 100 best players in the league, as voted by their peers) said laughingly: “I seen Odell, I just seen him.”
Right.
Beckham, who is recovering from a surgical procedure to repair an undisclosed issue, will miss the first four games, at minimum, due to his being placed on the PUP list. The earliest he can play (and this is still unlikely) is week five against the New England Patriots.
When OBJ does return however, he is expected to make a huge impact.
“When he would play my favorite team — I grew up a Cowboys fan — when he made that one-hand catch, that’s O in his prime,” Miami Dolphins franchise quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said in an exclusive with with RG. “And O will tell you he’s still in his prime. I haven’t had any of those reps to throw to him, to work timing with him. I don’t think it’s right for me to speak on any of that, because I just haven’t done any of that with O. But I’m super excited to see when he gets in and scores a touchdown, what dances he has for us.
“That’s what we all know O for. That one-handed catch — he’s a superstar, that dude’s a rock star.”
Hill, hands down the best receiver in the league, will obviously be the WR1. Jaylen Waddle, a megastar in his own right, will be the Robin to his Batman. Odell Beckham Jr. will be the third option.
OBJ won the Super Bowl with the L.A. Rams in 2022, and heading into the big game that year, NFL on CBS pundit Brandon Marshall discussed what it is exactly that makes the Rams’ receivers unit so special:
“What makes this team special is they know who the guy is. Odell Beckham Jr. is the No. 1 receiver on most teams…but here he knows that ‘I need to go pull coverage.’ When your time is called, then you may get the ball. But until then, do your job. That’s what makes this unit so special.”
It sems like the current situation in Miami is somewhat similar to what Beckham had going on in Los Angeles.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.