CLEVELAND _ Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will likely need surgery to repair a sports hernia after this season, a person familiar with the situation confirmed Sunday morning.
Earlier, NFL Network reported Beckham will need the surgery. However, the person familiar with Beckham's injury said the superstar undergoing surgery isn't set in stone at this point.
ESPN's Josina Anderson tweeted Beckham texted her the following: "There is not decision on surgery yet."
After the Browns defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 27-19 on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium, Beckham said he has had a sports hernia "since training camp, but it is what it is at this point. Just got to keep playing."
Asked if he'll need surgery, Beckham replied, "I don't know. Figure it out after the season."
Meanwhile, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield criticized the team's medical staff for its approach to Beckham's injury.
"It wasn't handled the right way in our training room," Mayfield said, adding he believes Beckham should have had surgery in training camp and missed a game or two instead of playing hurt all season.
Later, Mayfield apologized for his comments on Twitter.
Beckham has been pushing through pain since camp, and the nature of his injury shouldn't come as a surprise.
On Thursday, Beckham answered a question about Browns running back Kareem Hunt by saying, "He fought through kind of a similar what I'm going through." Hunt had sports hernia surgery Aug. 29.
Traded from the New York Giants in March, Beckham missed most of the team drills in training camp because of a hip injury, robbing him of practice reps with Mayfield.
The Browns listed Beckham on their injury report with a hip problem until late October, when they began listing him with a groin issue in the buildup to Week 8. He has been listed with a groin injury since then.
"I've been pretty much banged up all year since whatever happened in camp," Beckham said Thursday. "I've been playing through it, doing whatever I can just to make it to Sunday for the game. So anytime that Sunday comes around, 1 o'clock, 4 o'clock, 8, Monday night, Thursday, I'm going to give this team everything that I have, no matter what."
The sports hernia is just one disappointing aspect of Beckham's first season with the Browns, who are 5-7 entering Sunday's home game against the 1-11 Cincinnati Bengals. He has played in every game and compiled 57 catches for 805 yards and two touchdowns _ far from the elite production he had sought when he arrived in Cleveland.
