Giants receiver Odell Beckham doubled down on his controversial comments from an ESPN interview after Sunday’s last-second loss to the Panthers, saying he regrets nothing, explaining that he was simply displaying leadership, and claiming credit for the team’s display of effort, heart, and grit. So what does his teammates think?
“I haven’t heard anything,” quarterback Eli Manning told reporters. “Odell and I have a great relationship. Our mindset will be everybody stay focused on beating Philadelphia.”
Safety Landon Collins also pleaded ignorance.
“I don’t know what comments you guys are talking about,” Collins told reporters. “I didn’t hear about them, but when Odell came to talk to us, he spoke from the heart, he talked gratefully, and we knew where he was coming from. We knew he was coming from the heart, so you know he’s a great teammate, a great guy, a great person and a leader. This offense, this team, we have to look up to him, so we knew where he was coming from.”
Defensive lineman Damon Harrison was the most circumspect of the bunch.
“I don’t really want to comment on that,” Harrison said. “It was handled in house.”
The comments from coach Pat Shurmur created the distinct impression that he wants it to continue to be handled in house. With the Giants traveling back from Carolina tonight -- and with some possibly not fully aware of his performance from the ESPN interview -- there’s a chance that one or more of them will have something to say, on or off the record, over the next day or so.
The fact that the Giants have to quickly refocus on a short-week game against the Eagles could make it easer for the Giants to avoid a rash of reports regarding players who think that Beckham went too far. Regardless, it’s quite possible that many of them didn’t quite know what Beckham was apologizing for when he apologized on Saturday night.