ALLEN PARK, Mich. — It was first down on the Lions’ 35-yard line as Eli Manning tried to get the Giants in the end one, trailing 28-22 with under two minutes remaining. Manning looked to his right, spotted Odell Beckham Jr. curling to the inside and fired a high, hard one that Beckham leaped to ensnare. He came down with the ball and pivoted to get down the field.
The whistle blew the play dead.
This was a sunny Tuesday morning at the Lions’ practice facility, a simulated situation in a joint practice that was in some small way Beckham’s 2018 coming-out party, given the bubble-wrap approach the Giants have taken with their star receiver this summer. Had this been a real game, no whistle would have sounded and Beckham might have gone a long, long way before he was stopped.
“He might have broke that thing,” tight end Rhett Ellison said. “He’s arguably the best playmaker in the league. When he gets the ball in his hands, some things you don’t think are possible can become possible.”
For the first time since Pat Shurmur took over as head coach, Beckham was on display, operating against a defense wearing a different jersey. He was held out of the preseason-opening loss to the Browns and, coming off surgery to repair a fractured left ankle, Beckham in training camp was also on the side when it was time for one-on-ones with his own defensive backs.
Shurmur took the clamps off for the first of three days of work with the Lions, and Beckham gave more than a few glimpses of what he can do for this new offensive attack.
“He was out there practicing,” Shurmur said. “He did great.”
All hands were not on deck, as rookie running back Saquon Barkley did not practice at all because of a left hamstring issue Shurmur called a “tweak.” So, seeing what Beckham can do for Barkley, and vice versa, will have to wait. Seeing Beckham unleashed was enough of a pick-me-up for the Giants that Barkley’s absence was not overly dramatic.
On his first one-on-one rep, Beckham breezed past rookie cornerback Chris Jones for an easy completion, completely shredding Jones’ attempt as press coverage. Beckham later had no problem getting the jump on Darius Slay, the Lions’ top cornerback, in a one-on-one and also in the seven-on-seven drill. Beckham might have taken his last catch, in the two-minute drill, to the house if the play was allowed to be extended.
“Yeah, in a game that would have been a bigger gain than it already was,” tight end Evan Engram said. “He’s just a really dynamic player, and he’s one of the best receivers in the league. Having him out there making those big plays, especially in crucial moments like the two-minute drill, it’s good to have. It’s definitely a big help for us.”
Beckham certainly looked strong enough to play in a preseason game, and the next one comes Friday night inside Ford Field in Detroit. If Beckham is held out again, it is simply to protect him from injury. He looks in form.
It was a particularly effective day for the starting offense, and Beckham’s involvement surely was a reason for the kick-start. The ball rarely hit the ground when Manning was on the field — he had only two incompletions during the live drills. The two-minute drive near the end of practice ended when safety Glover Quin anticipated Manning’s pass to the right sideline to Engram and came away with an interception.
“We moved the ball down the field,” Shurmur said. “The safety made a good play on the ball. To that point we were making good throws, and the protection was good.”
As for Manning, Shurmur said, “I thought he was throwing the ball well.”
One of Manning’s teammates was a bit more effusive.
“He was zipping it around,” Ellison said. “He looked good out there.”
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