Miami Dolphins’ Odell Beckham, seeking first catch, feels healthy, fast

November 1, 2024 Vaseline blog 0

Miami Dolphins’ Odell Beckham, seeking first catch, feels healthy, fast

MIAMI GARDENS — Odell Beckham, Jr. looked really explosive and fast in the portion of Miami Dolphins practice open to the media on Wednesday.

“Yeah, I mean, still running 20 miles an hour, still running faster than the person who’s chasing me,” Beckham said after practice. “It just hasn’t been the most opportunities, you know. Like I said, coming here, you know, we’ve got two guys who were getting paid 30 million dollars, you know, and that’s, it’s how can I help and assist and find my way in. And I think as a team we’re just establishing who we are, what’s going to be our identity.”

In three games since returning from injury, OBJ has 33 snaps, 3 targets and 0 catches.

At the age of 31, Beckham knows he’s not one of Miami’s top targets in 2024.

But he really just wants to contribute.

“There’s so many guys we can get the ball to,” Beckham said. “There’s three running backs, three receivers, tight ends. There’s only one football, you know, so just trying to establish who we are as a team. But the time is now.”

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Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is trying to get stars Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle more targets and catches, too.

If Miami can have more drives and more plays on offense, that will help.

McDaniel also thought Beckham, playing for the first time with Tua Tagovailoa, looked his best as a Dolphin.

“It was a step in the right direction that doesn’t show up in a box score,” McDaniel said. “Sometimes the opposing defensive coordinator can just randomly call a certain coverage that (OBJ’s) No. 1 (target) and runs a good route and there’s a floating defender in his vicinity that forces Tua to progress. I thought (Odell) attacked his responsibilities the best that he had since he’s been here and I thought it was a step in the right direction.”

On Wednesday, Tagovailoa said working with Beckham while they were both on injured reserve should pay dividends.

Regarding timing, Tua said: “I think we’re getting to where we need to be.”

Tua Tagovailoa: Timing with Odell Beckham getting there

Beckham should be a Dolphins threat on third downs.

Beckham may be a Dolphins threat in the red zone.

For Beckham, this season isn’t necessarily about accumulating statistics, but finding a way to help.

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“It’s about having a sense of urgency,” Beckham said of Miami’s 2-5 record. “It’s not like anything’s over with. It’s just about making those corrections and changing it because at the end of the day, 10 games are going to be played. What your record’s going to be is ultimately on you. But those games are going to get played.”

Odell Beckham Jr. feels ready to help Dolphins

Beckham suggested he has had so many injuries in recent years that he’d like to take advantage of how he feels right now – which is good.

“Today was supposed to be a light day and I was out there pushing,” Beckham said. “You know what I mean? I was out there trying to find something to get better at. I feel good. I don’t ever want to take that for granted again, even when it’s difficult. People always talk about receivers and they’ re like, oh, the divas, and all that, s— that they say, and it’s like ‘a receiver is the most selfless person on the field.’ “

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Beckham elaborated on selflessness.

“You’ve got to wait on, first of all, you’ve got to wait for it to be a pass play,” he said. “You’ve got to wait for the o-line to block and protect. You’ve got to wait for the quarterback to throw you the ball. There’s nothing that’s really in your control. You could be open 10 times in a game and never get the ball. It could get thrown to you once, and that might have been your only opportunity.

“So, honestly, as many as people talk about receivers, they really are some of the most selfless people on this field and that’s why it’s so crucial, you know, it’s like we only get one hour a week, you know, those five chances is all I’m going to have or however many chances you get, until next week. So yeah, I do feel good. It’s just about finding how I can best serve my teammates and this team.

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Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm BeachPost. You can reach him at [email protected] and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe’s free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.