Will Odell Beckham Jr. make his Dolphins debut against the Patriots?
The wide receiver looks set to make his long-awaited debut for the Dolphins in Week 5 which is good news for a team that has been derailed by injuries.
The 2024 campaign was supposed to be one in which the Miami Dolphins would capitalize on what football fans already knew was a potent offense. Sadly, injuries to key players have had a significant effect on that idea but things could be about to change.
Odell Beckham Jr. will face the Patriots
The Miami Dolphins got some good news this week with NFL Media reporting that veteran wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has been activated from the PUP list and will in fact play against he New England Patriots when the teams face off in Week 5. “On a team that is very motivated to win a football game, I think he’s eager to try to help do that,” said head coach Mike McDaniel earlier this week. Of course, Beckham’s status is one to keep an eye on as he comes off of the reserve/physically unable to perform list due to a knee injury which it should be said kept him from being a full participant practice during the entire week.
To that end, the 31-year-old has officially been listed as questionable. Though to hear him tell it, he’s ready to go. “I felt pretty good,” the three-time Pro Bowler said Thursday. “The old guy can still run. I felt good. I think I feel obviously a bit out of football shape, but just like everything else, it comes with repetition. So just being able to get out there and run around, I don’t think people understand how much of a joy that is to be able to not even stretch and I can go out there and just take off running. You know, it’s been a long journey with me and my career. So getting able to get out there has been great.”
If you didn’t know, Beckham suffered tore his ACL during the 2020 season with the Cleveland Browns, and then again in Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams at the end of the 2021 season. When added to a “shattered ankle” which he suffered in 2017, and a somewhat delayed arthroscopic knee procedure that he underwent this offseason, it should come as no surprise that his start to life in Miami has been severely delayed. Nonetheless, here we are with Beckham seemingly ready to make his debut, and the Dolphins are happy to see him do so, something he alluded to when speaking about the delays involved with his recent operation.
“[After last] season, there was a lot going on in my life, personal life, businesses, all of that, that just kind of had me in a place where football wasn’t exactly a priority,” Beckham said. “[I have a] son who’s 2 years old, you know, don’t got much time to spend with him. I feel like he’s growing up fast and I’m not having that much time. So football wasn’t exactly the first and foremost thing on my mind. Then I had to have a small cleanup of the knee and just kind of going through that free agency process. You know, my agent and I went back and forth, whether we do it right after the season or we wait until free agency happens and I just feel like I waited too late.” The Dolphins (1-3) take on the Patriots (1-3) at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET. Don’t miss it!