OBJ says ankle OK, but his game must improve

LONDON — Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. feels his injured ankle is much better this week even though the Baltimore Ravens traveled overseas and are off their regular schedule.

“There’s so many things that you have to adapt to, but there’s no time for excuses or putting blame here or there,” Beckham said Thursday after the Ravens’ practice at the Tottenham training ground. “I’m a man, I take my wins with my losses. I just got to come out and just be better, plain and simple.”

This has been the least productive start of Beckham’s eight-year career. He has never had fewer receptions (seven), receiving yards (79) or average per-catch (11.3) in the first five games of a season.

Beckham, 30, missed two games after injuring his ankle in Week 2. But even when he has been on the field, Lamar Jackson’s top targets have been rookie Zay Flowers and tight end Mark Andrews.

Beckham still believes he will make an impact this season.

“It’s a long season,” he said. “It’s about catching fire when you’re supposed to. It’s about everything coming together at the right time. So you do have to be optimistic about the season, and that’s where I’m trying to stay in that mindset of there’s a lot of opportunities. No team won a Super Bowl in Week 5 or 6.”

Beckham’s first game back from the ankle injury was last Sunday, when Baltimore lost in Pittsburgh, 17-10. One of the four targeted passes to Beckham was Jackson’s underthrown pass to the end zone in the fourth quarter that was intercepted.

Beckham played 37 snaps (53 percent) on Sunday, which is a drastic difference from when he participated in 92 percent of the snaps in the season opener (59 snaps).

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he has spoken to Beckham “a lot.”

“He just wants to do more,” Harbaugh said. “He wants to be involved, and I just think he’s got to be patient. It’s a long season, he’s going to be healthy. He practices hard and well, and I know he’s going to be there for us.”

Beckham, who signed a one-year, $15 million contract with the Ravens this year, is in the midst of attempting a major comeback. He sat out all of last season after he injured his knee in Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13, 2022.

It looked like Beckham was on his way to producing a strong season after he repeatedly got behind defenders during training camp.

“I’ve worked my ass off for a long time, since that Super Bowl,” Beckham said. “Just to have a small setback, which you never saw coming, it’s just unfortunate. Now, I’m kind of just getting readjusted. It is behind you now, but maybe sitting there and in hindsight thinking you could have waited one more week to just get your feet back underneath you.”