The New York Jets' Brandon Marshall is a gifted and emotional receiver himself, so he knows a thing or two about how an NFL team's management can keep a player like him happy. Wednesday, he shared some insight on the Jets' cross-town rival, the Giants, and how they are handling their superstar receiver, Odell Beckham Jr.
Marshall cautioned the Giants to be cautious with handling Beckham.
"Those guys over there need to be really careful. They don't need to be speaking out on their teammate. They need to keep that in-house, because they can lose him," Marshall said, via the New York Daily News. "They need to rally behind him and give him the support he needs and handle that stuff in-house, whether good or bad. Because whether they like it or not, he's the best player on that team."
Beckham Jr. caused some buzz when he threw a fit on the sidelines during the Giants' loss to the Redskins last month. His coach, Ben McAdoo, said he needs to be more mature and less of a distraction. Former Giants running back Tiki Barber said Beckham is a "look at me" player.
"He's the type of guy that he can play with anger; he can play with rage. Like, that's not a distraction for him," Marshall said. "He doesn't need a sports psychologist for that, because he's still going to make that magnificent one-hand catch. The problem is, it may be a distraction to his teammates. Guys don't [want to] answer the same question every single week. But as far as him personally needing help? He doesn't need help. He's still going to produce and be the beast that he is. But when your teammates have to answer that question over and over again, that's when it becomes a problem."
Marshall has a point. Beckham is great partly because of his emotional edge. If he doesn't feel accepted, he may start to resent management and could be tempted by the idea of leaving the Giants. That's not to say he's there yet—but indeed, the Giants are "playing with fire" with their franchise player.
"I think that he can channel it a bit better," Marshall said. "But there's a thin line, like, he has to be himself. Monday night, he was not himself. That's not good for them. That's not good for them—coach coming out saying, 'Oh, this, he needs to do'—nah, that's the wrong way. You're playing with fire there."
For his part, Beckham said he's just going to keep being who he is.
