As opposing defensive players increasingly try to get under the skin of Giants receiver Odell Beckham, Giants offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan has had enough.
Sullivan said today that if a player has to try to get into Beckham’s head, that says more about the other players than it says about Beckham.
“The only reason a guy tries to get him off his game is because they’re not confident enough in their abilities,” Sullivan said. “They’re afraid to match-up against him 1-on-1, mano y mano. If that’s going to be the approach, you can put that when you’re ranking and say, ‘Obviously the guy is not courageous enough or brave enough or not man enough to go ahead and play it straight up.’ If they need those types of tricks, then so be it. We’re going to rise above that.”
Sullivan may be trying to get into the heads of opposing defensive players, hoping that they’ll stop baiting Beckham. But the only thing that’s going to stop opposing players from baiting Beckham is for Beckham to show it doesn’t work. As long as Beckham can be talked into getting 15-yard penalties, opposing players are going to keep talking to him. Whether Sullivan likes it or not.