John Harbaugh spoke in generalities about his reasons for releasing Odell Beckham Jr. until the questions kept coming on Wednesday.
Then the coach became more direct.
“It’s not a logic — we’re not having like a — It’s not like high school debate,” Harbaugh said. “It wasn’t working for us. We didn’t think it would make us better, or we’d have had him on the field.”
That was a harsh review of Beckham’s skills, especially coming from a coach who determined not long ago that OBJ had performed well enough in training camp to make the 53-man roster.
Especially coming from a coach whose team has scored 18 total points and no touchdowns the past two games without giving Beckham a true opportunity to change that.
Something is off with the timing of this move, the sudden nature of it, occurring only two days after all of MetLife Stadium was chanting “OBJ! OBJ!” to get No. 13 more involved in a stagnant offense.
But Harbaugh did not appreciate the suggestion that the attention Beckham attracted was connected to the coach’s decision to abruptly let him go.
“No, no, and that’s all I really need to answer on it,” Harbaugh said. “No. It’s what’s best for the team. That’s it. And if you think it’s anything else, then you don’t know me, and you don’t know what we’re doing here. It’s nothing more than that.
“It’s not doing enough for our offense. It’s not doing enough for our team,” he continued. “So we need to make a change. And he’s not thrilled with it either. He wants to play. There’s no deep conversation. There’s no conspiracy theory. It’s just we’re trying to win games.”
Harbaugh sought to put to bed any speculation of something unrelated to football to rest.
“We’re trying to put the best 48, the best 53 out there for us, for our team right now, and that’s it,” the coach said. “So any speculation about all that, that’s just noise. Nobody cares about that. It’s the last thing I care about. So that’s it. I told you what it is, and that’s what it is. I’m not kidding anybody. I’m not hiding anything. it’s not Watergate. We’re trying to be the best team we can be this week.”
Here’s what doesn’t add up, though: Harbaugh said one of the reasons the Giants “added a couple guys” was to “get a few more points.
“We’d like to score some points in the red zone,” he said. “That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing, so we can better. And that’s it.”
But he only gave Beckham 20 total snaps in three games and determined he couldn’t help the offense’s effort to get in the end zone?
He later called Beckham “a great friend.”
“Odell, I hope he lands somewhere,” Harbaugh said. “I love the guy, and I hope he lands somewhere and gets a shot. I think he’s determined to. It’d probably be a better situation for him. It just wasn’t working here. And that’s all that needs to be said.”
But if Harbaugh thinks Beckham could produce in another situation, why did he think he couldn’t do it here?
It has become clear that Beckham was not expecting this, even though his situation was being handled strangely.
Joe Ruback, the Giants superfan known as License Plate Guy, said on the New York Revival podcast that he was on the phone with Beckham right before he got the call.
“Unexpected,” Ruback said. “No, he did not ask for it. He did not ask for his release. He was just as surprised as we are, but he’s also the guy that’s not gonna come back to the practice squad.
“With all of his hard work and dedication, the guy’s gonna go and try and catch on with another team and rightfully so after putting his heart and soul on the field,” Ruback added. “Getting together, getting in shape, getting football ready and making a 53, he wants to continue that type of football in shape and wants to play for another team.”
Beckham likely will sign with another team in the coming weeks. His offseason home is in Arizona, and he won a Super Bowl with the L.A. Rams. So a betting man would put money on OBJ landing somewhere out West.
The Giants wasted no time giving his jersey number away, placing No. 13 on backup quarterback Jake Haener while new QB J.J. McCarthy took No. 18 for his first practice with the team.
Harbaugh had an unusual response when challenged about his comments last Friday that he was “all for” Beckham being more involved in last Sunday’s game plan against the Tennessee Titans — before Beckham played only six snaps.
“I think I said I hoped he would get more chances, that’s what I said, so nothing changed,” Harbaugh said. “I did hope he would get more chances, and he didn’t. That’s where we stood. So I felt like that being the case, we’re not gonna be able to get it done, roster spot wise we need more out of that spot, and that’s what we’re gonna do.
“Nothing about Odell,” the coach added. “Nothing that he could do in that sense. It’s just we weren’t able to get it done, make it fit, make it work, whatever you want to call it. And I was hoping we could, and we didn’t.”
Harbaugh controls who plays and who doesn’t, however. He can’t hope a player plays more and then claim he had nothing to do with it when the guy stands idle on the sidelines most of the afternoon.
While the stadium is chanting the player’s name, no less.
“I told him I wanted to be able to get more, wanted him to be able to do more, get him on the field more, and for whatever reason we just weren’t able to do it,” Harbaugh said. “Put it on us. We weren’t able to get it done. But at this point in time, that’s where we were, and we needed to move on.”
Put it on Harbaugh and the Giants. Sounds fair. Because that’s who made this call. And that’s who needs to put a better offensive product on the field on Sunday, even if they don’t feel like they have to explain the release of a one of the franchise’s legends in the middle of Week 4.
‘HADDY’ IS BACK
The Giants are reuniting with edge rusher Jihad Ward, signing him off the Minnesota Vikings practice squad to bolster a defensive front that lost Brian Burns for the season to a torn right ACL.
Ward, 32, has played for Harbaugh in Baltimore, for Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson in Tennessee and for the Giants in 2022-23. He was on coordinator Wink Martindale’s defense that was responsible for the Giants’ return to the playoffs in 2022.
THOMAS, TRACY AMONG DNPs
Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas (groin), running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (knee) and linebacker Malik Harrison (groin) did not practice Wednesday. Corner Deonte Banks (calf) and safety Tyler Nubin (calf) were limited. Fullback Pat Ricard (nose), corner Nic Jones (shoulder) and safety Elijah Campbell (foot) were full participants.
Harbaugh was asked if Thomas is going to be a weekly non-participant to manage his injury leading up to games.
“I don’t know,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t have a crystal ball on that.”
He said of Tracy’s knee injury: “I don’t think it’s going to be serious. We’ll see. We’ll know more. It’s just kind of a day-to-day thing.”
So Devin Singletary could be back in this week’s lineup with Cam Skattebo and Najee Harris in the backfield.
