New York Notes: Beckham, Giants, Marshall

Odell Beckham Jr. is a notable no-show from Giants OTAs, although this isn’t necessarily anything new. While the practices aren’t mandatory, coach Ben McAdoo made it clear that he’d prefer full attendance over the 10 days.

“You want all your players here, especially your great players,” the coach said (via Steve Serby of the New York Post). “It’s a time to build fundamentals and communication and chemistry and trust, so you want all your players here, especially the great ones. They facilitate a lot of those things for you, but you coach who’s here. That’s what time of year it is for us.”

As Anthony Barstow of the New York Post points out, Beckham seemingly responded to those comments on Friday night. The star receiver retweeted a tweet from NewsOne Now managing editor Roland Martin that read “I’m sick of folks acting like star athletes must always do what a coach asks. McAdoo wants @OBJ_3 at workouts? See ya when it’s mandatory.”

While Beckham’s absence can presumably be attributed to his unwillingness to travel across the country for non-mandatory practices, the 24-year-old could also be sending a subtle hint regarding his contract. The wideout’s salary for 2017 is at $1.8MM, an absolute bargain considering Beckham’s three straight seasons with at least 1,300 receiving yards. The Giants picked up his $8.5MM fifth-year option, and the receiver is now eligible for an extension.

For what it’s worth, Beckham made it clear that he’d be attending the team’s mandatory minicamp in mid-June.

Let’s take a look at some other notes from out of New York…

• Tara Sullivan of NorthJersey.com says Beckham is unable “to stop making everything so hard on himself.” The writer believes it would have been in the receiver’s best interest to attend OTAs, especially following the “hole-punching” fiasco and a public call-out by Giants general manager Jerry Reese.
• Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like Beckham’s teammates are concerned with his (or defensive end Olivier Vernon‘s) absence. “It’s voluntary,” Damon Harrison told Sullivan. “I’m more than sure OV and OBJ are somewhere working out just as hard, or maybe even harder than we are. I’m confident they’ll come in and be ready. … They have some valid reasons why they’re not here; I’m sure they’re not here just because they didn’t feel like coming. If I didn’t live in New Jersey I probably wouldn’t be here right now. OV is from Miami. Have you seen the weather here lately? I’d run from it too. I’m sure they got some good reasons why.”
• Jalin Marshall‘s impending four-game suspension means the Jets wideout has to prove that he’s worth a roster spot during the preseason, and the second-year player recognizes this uphill battle. “I can’t really think about what’s going to happen when the season starts,” he said (via Ethan Greenberg of NewYorkJets.com). “I do have four preseason games to play. If you play well, everything else speaks for itself. They can’t rid of a guy who’s going to help the team win, so that’s what I try to do day in and day out. Go out there and make sure they know I can help the team win.”
• Earlier this week, Collette Smith became the first woman to ever join the Jets’ coaching staff.