Giants star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. isn't a fan of the ribbing he received from teammates while sitting out this week's minicamp with a lingering sore hamstring.
"For me, this is what I love doing, and this is what I feel like my purpose was to do," Beckham said, per ESPN.com. "So it takes a lot of strength for me to be able to come here every day and not practice, have to hear the little remarks, the little jokes, this and that.
"And it's not just about a hamstring. It's so many other things that people talk about. So it's hard to come here and try and focus on 'What play is up right now?' instead of thinking about how bad you want to be out there."
Beckham also missed all of last year's training camp and the first four games of his rookie season with a tweaked hamstring, but the Giants have labeled this recent setback as precautionary. Still, the mega-talented pass-catcher says he's hearing it from "everybody."
"Because of the hamstring last year and then the fame, it's like, 'Oh, you're too big-time now,' all that," Beckham said. "So I mean, I just hear it and you want to blow it off, but after a while it gets old, and it kind of bothers you."
With fellow wideout Victor Cruz coming off knee surgery, New York is taking it slowly with a duo that should emerge -- if healthy -- as one of the NFC's finest this season. As for the taunting, coach Tom Coughlin wants ODB to relax, per the New York Post.
"(I want him to react to the jokes) just like he did last year," said Coughlin. "Worry about things you can control and not about those you can't. There was obviously some (verbal back-and-forth) in there. There may have been somebody serious, but most of it would have been well-intended shots just over the bow. His personality hasn't let up any because of it, I can guarantee you that."
Our prediction: The playful jabs from teammates will vanish once this dynamic and pristine-route-running tour de force begins taking apart secondaries on a weekly basis.
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