BLOOMINGTON, Minn. _ New York Giants coach Pat Shurmur promised he would be reaching out very soon in order to speak with Odell Beckham Jr. and begin to find out "what makes him tick."
Not only has the conversation taken place, from early indications, the belief is that Shurmur and Beckham are off to a strong start.
"There is such pride and such history here, I think it's very, very important that we do what's right. The word culture is thrown around a lot but I think it really just comes down to doing what's right, competing, giving effort, and playing the game with respect," Shurmur said Monday morning in a radio interview with ESPN.
"And I'm not saying this in regard to Odell. I've already spoken to him. Obviously we can just talk about, 'Hey, how's it going?' nice-to-meet-you stuff. But talking to him, he sounds inspired to get ready to have a really good year, so I'm looking forward to that."
Beckham missed 13 games this past season with issues stemming from an ankle injury, including a fracture that required season-ending surgery after a Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Both Shurmur and Giants president and co-owner John Mara expressed optimism and a desire that Beckham would remain with the Giants long-term. He is entering the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, and Mara said he still anticipated an extension would be in the offing.
"We will deal with that at the appropriate time. That is not necessarily right now," Mara said last Friday. "I've said before many times that we want him to be a Giant. We will get something done at some point. I first want Pat to sit down with him and for them to have a good understanding of how we are going to act going forward. I have a lot of confidence that it will work out well, but we'll see."
