Dolphins wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. did not get on the field at all during training camp or the preseason and he won’t be getting on the field in the first four weeks of the regular season either.
The Dolphins left Beckham on the physically unable to perform list when they cut their roster to 53 players on Tuesday and General Manager Chris Grier said at a Wednesday press conference that the team knew he might not be ready to go for the start of the season. Grier, who declined to discuss the nature of Beckham’s injury, said that Beckham did not want to remain on the PUP list, but the team thought it was the most prudent way to go.
“He is very close, but, for us, it was the long play,” Grier said. “We didn’t want him to rush back, feeling he had to rush back, and then something happened and sets us back. . . . We just felt what’s best for him long haul to help us here win games is to put him down for a little bit right now.”
Beckham is ineligible to play in the first four games, but Grier’s comments suggest that his absence from the lineup won’t last much beyond that and, if the Dolphins have played their cards right, he won’t have to miss any more time the rest of the way.