The NFL has fined Odell Beckham Jr. $12,154 for simulating a dog urinating to celebrate his first touchdown in Philadelphia last weekend, seemingly putting an end to the latest chapter in Beckham's colorful career.
Coach Ben McAdoo certainly hopes so, partly to put the distraction behind the team, and partly because his focus is on how important Beckham is before and during plays, not after them.
Has the tempest surrounding last weekend's act affected Beckham this week, from what McAdoo has seen?
"He's focused on preparing for the game," McAdoo said Friday. "He seems dialed in and focused on his preparation."
The good news for the Giants is they have one of the most dangerous receivers in the NFL. As McAdoo said in an interview this week on the team's website, Beckham in effect is open if only one defender is covering him.
"If he's one-on-one, throw him the ball," McAdoo said. "We have that much confidence in him. I'm pretty sure if you ask (quarterback Eli Manning), he has that much confidence in him. So if he's one-on-one, he's a guy you want to throw to."
The bad news for the Giants is that everyone else knows how dangerous Beckham is, so most of the time opponents do not single-cover him _ especially when they do not have a strong running game to worry about.
"I think our offense is at its best when we're running the ball well, that's number one," McAdoo said. "So it takes the pressure off the quarterback. You run the ball well it opens up things in the action-pass game and the quarterback has a chance to complete the ball.
"It's tough to get Odell the ball. Teams most of the time cloud him or play a version of two-man on him or double him in some sort of way. So it's a challenge to get him the ball. So when you have an opportunity to get him the ball you want to take advantage of it."
