BEREA, Ohio -- Browns coach Freddie Kitchens finally acknowledged on the second-to-last day of OTAs that Odell Beckham Jr. skipping most of them might not have been the best idea in the world.
Asked what he wants to see of him next week in mandatory minicamp, Kitchens said, "I just want to see him.''
What did he miss?
"A lot -- the offense.''
It was the first time Kitchens has done anything but defend Beckham for not showing up. The Browns’ star wideout has attended only one of the nine OTAs and also skipped the voluntary three-day extra minicamp. The Browns expected Beckham to attend more than one OTA.
With Jarvis Landry nursing an undisclosed minor injury and expected to sit out the mandatory minicamp, it’s forced Baker Mayfield to throw to backup receivers every day.
Last week, offensive coordinator Todd Monken said it’s been a challenge for Mayfield and for the offensive installation without the top receivers on hand and “you do what you can.” The Browns had eight offensive installs and finished them this week.
There’s only one OTA left on Friday, and then the mandatory minicamp is June 4-6.
Beckham, traded to the Browns on March 12, attended only one OTA session two weeks ago, which was closed to the media. Last year, he attended Pat Shurmur’s extra voluntary minicamp and seven of the Giants’ 10 OTAs, but was also seeking a contract extension.
During his introductory press conference on April 1, Beckham indicated he’d be here for some of the offseason program and explained why he showed up that day for the start of the program.
“It’s just the first day,'' he said. "I want to set the tone. I do not know exactly my offseason plans. I usually train in L.A., but I definitely want to be here and create that bond, that relationship with my new teammates, coaches and everybody so that they can kind of see who I am exactly.
"I just thought it was important to be here today. I knew that [Landry] was going to be here today and that [Mayfield] was going to be here today so I had to come see my guys.”
Mayfield, who’s thrown to the likes of Damion Ratley, Dorian Baker, Jaelen Strong, Blake Jackson and Rashard Higgins, defended his good buddy’s decision to skip the voluntary practices, which as all NFL coaches know, are voluntary in name only.
“You let a guy like that be him,'' Mayfield said in the first week of OTAs. "Everybody has their routine. Stick to what is working, and for him, obviously, it’s been working for a while. He’s going to do what he’s going to do. You have to trust that he is going to be there when it matters, and we know who he is.”
Last week, Kitchens made it clear that he wants Beckham here when he’s ready to be all in.
“I have never disputed the fact that it’s not important for him to be here, but it’s also also important for him to be mentally ready to be here,’’ said Kitchens. “I’m not giving him an out by any stretch of imagination, and nobody here knows the conversations that Odell and I have. I’m just saying it is better for him to be here when he can present his best self – emotionally, physically, everything.’’
He was confident at the time that Beckham wouldn’t miss a beat, despite seeming irked on Thursday.
“Odell Beckham is going to be here in the fall, and he’s going to be a good football player in the fall just like he has been,'' Kitchens said last week before changing his tune this week. "We just need to incorporate it into a team setting and move forward with the Cleveland Browns, and that’s what we’re going to become. Are we there yet? No. Whether Odell is here or not here, we’re not going to be the Browns yet. We are going to be the Browns when we line up in September.”
Browns receivers coach Adam Henry said he’s been in constant contact with Beckham and that he’s not concerned about his absence.
“He’s a worker,'' he said. "He’s a guy who works hard. He’s always in condition. You’ve got to save him from himself when he’s practicing because he’ll just go and go and go. He’s like the young person with the ball. If there’s a ball being thrown or kicked, he wants it. He wants to play. So even in the course of practice, the offense may not be going, the defense is going, he’s doing something. He’s a busybody that way.”
Whether or not it’s related to Beckham’s absence, other players such as David Njoku and Antonio Callaway were absent Thursday, and Callaway missed the week before too.
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