The Cleveland Browns made quite a splash last offseason with the acquisition of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Unfortunately, his performance fell vastly short of the hype that he, along with the rest of the team, had generated.
There were a number of factors that attributed to Beckham's underwhelming debut season for the Browns that culminated with core muscle surgery in January. According to ESPN's Jake Trotter, he revealed the injury had grown progressively worse as the year went on:
“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,” he said. “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.”
The fact that Beckham managed to play through such a severe injury is a testament to his desire to stay active all year. However, his efforts were largely to no avail as the Browns finished with a 6-10 record.
Regardless, there is still good reason for the league to take notice. Beckham still managed to secure his fifth 1,000-yard receiving campaign in six seasons despite being part of this lackluster passing game with the Browns. It will certainly be interesting to see how well he will fare when full healthy.
The onus will fall on Beckham to spark a resurgence for the Browns on offense heading into the 2020 NFL season. Fortunately, he appears to be embracing all the high expectations once again after dealing with his fair share of trade rumors.
The Browns hope this is the case.
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