Odell Beckham Jr. says he quietly played through bad injuries in disappointing 2019
Odell Beckham Jr. had a season to forget in 2019, catching four touchdowns from Baker Mayfield as the Cleveland Browns skidded to a 6-10 record in Beckham’s first year with the franchise despite preseason fanfare.
Beckham confirmed in December that he was dealing with a sports hernia — after earlier reports led Mayfield to rip the training staff for its handling of it — and in January the team announced Beckham underwent surgery to repair a core muscle.
In a four-minute YouTube video Beckham posted Monday, the wide receiver detailed the injuries that started last summer.
A little update on rehab post surgeryhttps://t.co/dyAVLt8kaL pic.twitter.com/soqCEOq0c7
— Odell Beckham Jr (@obj) May 4, 2020
Beckham updates rehab, recovery
Beckham, 27, said he’s trying to “hit the reset button” and get everything aligned body-wise to begin training in football-related team activities on time. Most of the video is footage of his workout in a tent after he updated the injury that limited his productivity.
"So last year I was training in June and July, and I was kind of just feeling stuff around the groin area, abs and stuff like that," Beckham said. "I went through training, went through training, I get to August. And my third week of training camp, I tear a little piece of my ab. So before the season, I kind of had the hernia thing going on. Sports hernia is what they call it. End up at the end of the season, torn abductor, torn rectus abdominis on the right.
"So pretty much, I was just f---ed up the whole year. I really didn't try and say anything about it. Probably one of the worst surgeries I've ever had. Recovery's going well. Guess I'm really just trying to put my body back together. I've been playing for 23 years, so for me, I'm trying to put it all back together in seven months."
Beckham came to Cleveland from the New York Giants as a splashy piece who, alongside Jarvis Landry, could help elevate the offense and get the Browns back in the playoffs. Instead they sputtered, extending the NFL’s longest playoff drought to 18 years.
OBJ looking forward to 2020
Beckham did what most would do and insisted the 2020 season will be one of his best.
"I would honestly say this is going to be one of my best seasons,” he said. “Bigger, stronger, faster. It's just my time."
In the fall, he told Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com that 2020 would be the best year of his life.
Beckham was involved in offseason trade rumors, but Browns executives have remained committed to the star. And a deal wouldn’t make any sense anyway, as Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson detailed last month.
More from Yahoo Sports:
