EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants believe there is a “good chance” wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will play Monday night against the Detroit Lions, but the decision is still “up in the air,” a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The team will know more about Beckham’s status after Sunday, the source said.
Beckham, who missed the Giants’ opener last Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys, was officially listed as questionable for the second straight week with an ankle injury. He was a limited participant in practice Thursday and Friday, his first two practices since getting hurt on a hit by Cleveland Browns cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun four weeks ago.
Odell Beckham Jr. is expected to be a game-time decision on Monday night. AP Photo/Ron Schwane
“The biggest thing is, you don’t want to put a player out there that is going to do any harm to himself or injure himself any more than he is,” Giants coach Ben McAdoo said Saturday. “It is an injury. It’s a tough injury. He’s fighting through it and doing everything he can to get back, but we’re going to be smart with him.”
The Giants didn’t practice Saturday. Instead they spent the afternoon at the team facility taking care of their bodies before a workout Sunday at about 85 percent.
Beckham is expected to be a game-time decision Monday night.
Hart, Robinson and Beckham were all limited during Friday’s practice. Beckham ran some routes against air but was more involved than the previous day. He also did some running and skipping during warmups and made an impressive one-handed, left-handed grab in the back of the end zone during an offensive drill.
“He looked good. Looked like he’s improving,” wide receiver Roger Lewis said.
It’s progress after Beckham did not practice and worked on the side with trainers most of last week. He admittedly wasn’t close to playing against the Cowboys.
This week there appears to be more optimism.
“He responded well to treatment,” McAdoo said after practice Friday. “He responded well to his work [Thursday]. Got a little bit more [Friday], but he’s still limited.”
Beckham said Thursday that he was dealing with a 6-8 week injury. But that timetable could vary or change depending on the individual.
The Pro Bowl receiver has spent endless hours at the facility and at home treating and rehabbing the injury. Beckham said Thursday he “felt good” and was itching to get back on the field.
METAIRIE, La. — Drew Brees and Tom Brady have combined for more than 140,000 passing yards and 1,000 touchdown passes, including the playoffs, during a combined 35 NFL seasons.
They’ve faced each other four times (advantage Brees, 3-1). They’ve won six Super Bowl rings (advantage Brady, 5-1). They’ve caught up with each other during multiple joint practice sessions, preseason games and Pro Bowls.
Yet when asked for some of his most lasting impressions of Brady over the past two decades, Brees still went back to their first meeting. In college.
“I’m gonna go way back,” said Brees, whose New Orleans Saints will host Brady’s New England Patriots on Sunday in the first-ever matchup of two quarterbacks with at least 400 career touchdown passes and the first meeting between two quarterbacks with at least 10 Pro Bowl selections, according to Elias Sports Bureau research.
“We played against each other in college in 1999, at Michigan,” said Brees, who played at Purdue and remains the all-time passing yardage and touchdown leader in Big Ten history. “And that was at a point where the coaching staff there was having [Brady] share time with Drew Henson. Drew Henson was the highly touted freshman who I think had already been drafted in the first round by the Yankees. …
Drew Brees and Tom Brady will make history on Sunday in the first matchup of two quarterbacks with at least 400 career touchdown passes. Jim Rogash/Getty Images
“For me, standing on the sideline across from him, to me it was obviously Brady’s team. And yet he had to share time with this freshman. And yet, man, his approach and his discipline during that time … he played at such a high level, but he just worried about what he controlled.
“But I think that that probably shaped and molded a lot about him. A little bit of a chip on his shoulder, which has obviously served him well. And just a mental discipline and a mental toughness that’s unmatched.”
Brady’s Wolverines trounced Brees’ Boilermakers, 38-12, on a rainy afternoon that was also a slopfest for Purdue’s offense. There were so many dropped passes that Purdue coach Joe Tiller cracked, “I’d sue for lack of support.”
Brees got his revenge years later, when he threw for a perfect passer rating of 158.3 in New Orleans’ rout of the Patriots in their last meeting inside the Superdome in 2009, en route to a 13-0 start and a Super Bowl win.
Brady then returned the favor in 2013, with a game-winning TD pass in the final five seconds in New England that spoiled New Orleans’ 5-0 start.
But Brady still couldn’t help but rib Brees about the college meeting last year when they practiced together in similar rainy conditions in New England.
“We played ’em, maybe my senior year in the Big House, and we beat ’em,” Brady said again proudly this week when asked about their long history together. “He was really in a fun offense to watch. Joe Tiller was a great [coach]. My roommate [when I first got to the Patriots] actually played with Drew — Dave Nugent — and he had so many great things to say about him. And I just loved watching Drew play even back then. And what he’s done in the NFL and how prolific he’s been and how incredible their offenses have been, it’s really incredible.
“I have so much respect for him and everything he’s accomplished, everything that he brings to the table at the quarterback position.”
“If I can use ‘we’ in the sense of me and him, I’d say we probably both have the mindset that we want to change the norm for what is possible in regards to how long a guy can play and the level that they can play at.”
“I remember the evaluation of both players very well. … And look, if any one of us had a crystal ball, you’d be taking them in the first three picks of any draft,” said Payton, who was asked what he thought of Brady before he infamously fell to the sixth round. “He was tough. Lloyd Carr, who was coach [at Michigan], if I recall, told me he’s the toughest player he ever coached. So you saw a little of that grit and toughness. He was a good leader. He had a strong arm. Those were some of the things.
“Listen, [former Giants general manager] Ernie Accorsi would have my evaluation. It’s in New York somewhere.”
When asked what he admires about the 38-year-old Brees as a fellow quarterback who probably appreciates the subtle tricks of the trade more than most, the 40-year-old Brady said, “Well, everything.”
“I mean, he has ultimate control of the game,” Brady said. “He’s so savvy. I think he uses all the tools that he has at his disposal. He does a great job with the snap count, formations, motions, play-action. They do a great job of moving the pocket and moving him around. He can make all the throws. He knows how to look guys off. He knows how to throw guys open. He’s got everything it takes. I think that’s why he’s thrown for 5,000 yards five times.
“That offense has been one of the top offenses in the league since he got there. He pulls the trigger and his teammates have got a lot of confidence in him, and when they get it going, they’re tough to slow down. They’ve got a great rhythm to their offense and especially at home.”
Brees will never catch Brady when it comes to championships.
And Brady will probably never catch Brees on the all-time passing yardage or TD lists.
Brees is already ahead of Brady on both lists, despite being 19 months younger. Brees (66,402 yards and 466 TD passes) is 5,538 yards and 73 touchdowns behind Peyton Manning for first place all time. Brett Favre ranks second in both categories. Brees ranks third in both categories. And Brady (61,849, 456) is fourth in both categories.
Brady and Brees have one other thing in common. They both seem determined to keep playing well into their 40s — and possibly break the NFL record for the oldest starting quarterback at age 45.
Steve DeBerg, Vinny Testaverde and Warren Moon all started games at age 44.
“If I can use ‘we’ in the sense of me and him, I’d say we probably both have the mindset that we want to change the norm for what is possible in regards to how long a guy can play and the level that they can play at,” Brees said. “Listen, there’s a lot that goes into that. You gotta take great care of yourself. You have to have some good things happen around you in order for that to happen. But I know for me, and I’m sure he can tell you the same for himself, you build a team around you of people that continue to help you be in the best position to succeed in regards to what you do for your diet and your rest habits and your recovery, your training and everything else. …
“It doesn’t look like he’s stopping anytime soon. I don’t know if there is a guy more diligent or disciplined in his regards to his recovery and his preparation and his mindset. One of the greatest of all time, if not the greatest. Certainly the championships will tell you the greatest. I’ve got a ton of respect for him. I’ve been playing against him since college and have a lot of respect and admiration for him.”
When Brady was asked if he figures that no matter how long he plays, Brees will just play one day longer, he said, “It’s possible.”
“I mean, I know how much he loves the game and how committed he is,” Brady said. “So, I mean, if anybody can do it, he can.”
ESPN Patriots reporter Mike Reiss contributed to this report.
CINCINNATI — After Tom Savage’s agent blasted the Houston Texans for benching his client for rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson in Week 1, Savage said he addressed his teammates about the critical comments.
“I spoke to everybody on this team about it,” said Savage, who was the Texans’ backup quarterback in the team’s 13-9 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday. “I spoke to all the leaders, I spoke to coach, I spoke to Deshaun, [assistant coach] Pat [O’Hara], all those guys.
“I mean, it just is what it is. [Neil Schwartz] defended me. And the most important thing is I have this team’s back. I will go to war with Bill [O’Brien] and this organization any day of the week.”
Texans star J.J. Watt said he wasn’t worried about his injured finger from Week 1 because as long as it was attached, “that’s all that matters.” Watt reinjured the finger during Thursday’s win over the Bengals, noting it was “pretty messed up.”
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On an NBCSports podcast, Schwartz said he had spoken to Savage about his appearance on the show and said the quarterback was comfortable with his message.
“They told me they were going to defend me, and I said OK,” Savage said. “I didn’t really go through what they were going to say or anything like that. It was just one of those deals.
“I felt the need to talk to the team about it, because by any means, I do not want to be a distraction to this team. That’s not my goal. I will be here, I will support this team.”
Watson, who made his first NFL start, scored the lone touchdown on a 49-yard run and finished with 67 yards on five carries. He completed 15-of-24 passes without a touchdown or interception.
“Listen, we just won,” Savage said. “The headline should be about [Watson], not about this bullcrap.”
FRISCO, Texas — The NFL is trying to accelerate the timeline in its appeal of a federal judge’s injunction that blocked Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension over a domestic violence case.
The NFL quickly answered a filing from Elliott’s attorneys Wednesday, telling U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant that the league would immediately go to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans if he didn’t rule on its request for a stay of his injunction by Thursday.
The legal maneuverings are unlikely to keep last year’s NFL rushing leader from playing Sunday at Denver. He had already been cleared to play in a season-opening win over the New York Giants before Mazzant granted his request for an injunction.
Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, whose six-game suspension was put on hold by a judge’s order Friday, said he is happy he will “finally get a chance to prove my innocence.”
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The NFL had until Friday to respond to arguments from Elliott’s camp against Mazzant putting his injunction on hold pending hearings. In that scenario, Mazzant wouldn’t have ruled until next week.
“If this court declines to grant relief, respondents intend to seek a stay from the Court of Appeals and believe it is important to give the Court of Appeals the opportunity to act promptly,” NFL attorneys wrote.
The 22-year-old Elliott was suspended by commissioner Roger Goodell last month, and attorneys representing Elliott for the NFL Players Association contended in a lawsuit that Elliott didn’t get a fair hearing in an appeal that was denied.
Elliott was suspended after the league concluded he had several physical confrontations last summer with Tiffany Thompson, a former girlfriend. Prosecutors in Columbus, Ohio, decided about a year ago not to pursue the case in the city where Elliott starred for Ohio State, citing conflicting evidence.
In their latest filing, attorneys for Elliott argue that the NFL can’t meet the standard for irreparable harm because the league can still suspend the Dallas star if it wins on appeal.
The league argues that the harm is in Mazzant’s ruling interfering with a labor deal that was approved by both sides.
“Petitioner should not be allowed to evade its CBA obligations by delaying suspensions indefinitely through the courts,” NFL attorneys wrote.
A notice has been filed with the federal appeals court, but future filings with the three-judge panel in New Orleans have been on hold while the league followed the procedure of asking Mazzant for a stay of his ruling.
The NFL said its conclusions in suspending Elliott after a yearlong investigation were based on photographs, text messages and other electronic evidence. The running back denied the allegations under oath during the appeal.
The league has argued that it acted within the parameters of a labor agreement that gives Goodell broad authority to suspend players and that the appeal process was consistent with its personal conduct policy.
Attorneys for Elliott contended that the appeal hearing before Harold Henderson was unfair because Henderson barred Thompson and Goodell from testifying and excluded notes from the investigation that were favorable to Elliott. Mazzant’s ruling for the injunction largely agreed.
Elliott, who had 1,631 yards rushing last year as a rookie, finished with 104 yards in the 19-3 win over the Giants.
