Ben McAdoo is irked over Odell Beckham’s one-hand catches
One hand clapping does not make a sound.
One hand catching, though, can be deafening — especially when it is Odell Beckham Jr. causing the commotion.
Ever since Beckham’s catch-heard-’round the-world as a rookie against the Cowboys, the words “Beckham catch’’ are generally followed by “gone viral.’’ He was at it again Monday, much to the delight and amazement of the fans on hand, although his head coach prefers substance to style.
During one-on-one drills, Beckham was matched with Janoris Jenkins, and it turned out to be no match at all. Eli Manning tossed a lob and Beckham was unable to gain a step on Jenkins. No matter. Beckham faced up on Jenkins, leaped and gave a slight push off with his right arm. While in the air, Beckham’s left leg bent at the knee, his left arm dangled out to the side. Beckham swung his right arm around and snatched the ball out of the air, securing it on the way down. There was nothing Jenkins could do about it.
If misery enjoys company, Jenkins might have commiserated with Eli Apple, who on Sunday was posterized by a Beckham one-handed catch that was equally spectacular.
“I don’t know what happened, I just kinda clicked out,’’ Beckham said. “I’m in a different place right now. He threw the ball and I was like, ‘I’ve seen this before.’ It felt like it was like a dream, you know what I mean?’’
There is no degree-of-difficulty bonus when Beckham does something wondrous to secure the ball. And Ben McAdoo certainly does not give out style points.
“I like two hands on the ball better than one,’’ he said, when asked about Beckham’s sleight-of-hand tricks. “I like completions better than incompletions.’’
Of course. Beckham has heard it all before.
“You’re supposed to catch the ball with two hands, obviously,’’ Beckham said, chuckling. “I know that as well. Sometimes it just happens, If you catch it, hey, great play. But they’ll definitely sit there and be like ‘Use two hands.’’’
Beckham joked that after he delighted Sunday’s big crowd with the one-hand snatch on Apple, he purposely jogged slowly back slowly to the line of scrimmage.
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“That way [the coaches] maybe forget about it and go to the next play,’’ he said. “Yeah, I’m not trying to teach the kids out here to use one hand, I was taught growing up to use two hands.’’
At times, using one hand can give a receiver a distinct advantage, especially if he can ward off the defensive back with the other arm. McAdoo had an answer for that as well: There is an increased chance the receiver gets called for a penalty if he rips his off-hand free from the cornerback.
True, says Beckham, to a point.
“That’s really what you’re doing when you’re fending him off with this arm you’re trying to keep him away in a space,’’ Beckham said. “But with that being said, there’s been a lot of times in the past three years I didn’t necessarily make the play, because I’m trying to fight off a defender. And not so much you’re trying to fight him off anymore, just go get the ball, let them make the play on you.
“It’s really crazy, you’re running these deep routes, or any time the ball is coming to you, it’s a split second of decisions that can last a lifetime. I’m just working on catching everything that comes my way, make sure I don’t have any mental errors, mistakes, just be the best I can be.’’
One hand, two hands, whatever it takes.
“Get the job done, that’s just where I’m at, just get the job done, however you can,’’ he said. “If I got to fight, scrap for it, whatever I got to do to come up with it, it’s just got to be mine. There’s no other way to put it.’’
On a day when he (again) wowed those on the scene, Beckham made it as clear as possible what he is in this for.
He was asked how he will feel if, with all the offensive weapons and options around him, his statistics take a dip this season.
“See that banner? That’s all I care about,’’ Beckham said, nodding to the Super Bowl signage inside the team’s field house. “Honestly there’s one, two, three four in here, I don’t know where they’ll put the fifth one, but they’re gonna have to make room, because we need it.’’