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Associated Press 10y

Coughlin says Beckham might be a couple weeks away

NFL, NFL Draft, New York Giants, Indianapolis Colts

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It might be a few weeks before New York Giants first-round draft pick Odell Beckham Jr. plays in a game.

Frustrated with repeated questions about the wide receiver, coach Tom Coughlin on Monday said it might be two or three weeks until Beckham gets on the field.

Beckham missed almost all of training camp with a hamstring injury and did not play in any of the team's five preseason games. He did not practice Monday as the Giants began preparations for the regular-season opener at Detroit next Monday night.

"Let's just let this kid get better, OK," Coughlin said after practice. "Settle down, let the kid get better. I went to him yesterday to say: `Let's just not have any more setbacks.' Whatever it takes to get over this, let's do this. Let's encourage him and not let him feel like an outsider. Let's get on with it.

"To talk about him every day ... I'll let you know when he is ready to do something. I'll let you know."

Beckham has taken part in roughly one full practice, and he has not practiced in about two weeks.

Coughlin said the Giants are not going to rush Beckham and risk further injury.

Beckham was expected to provide Eli Manning a deep threat for the new West Coast offense and also return punts.

The Giants took Beckham with the 12th pick overall, expecting him to step into the lineup for Hakeem Nicks, another first-round pick who was not re-signed after a couple of injury-plagued seasons. Beckham was younger and healthier player; he never missed a game at LSU.

"I'm frustrated that I can't play but not so much frustrated as to what I'm dealing with," Beckham said. "It's just kind of one of those things where it happened and you have to embrace it and just know and understand that you have to do exactly what's best for your body, and at the same time, do what's best for the team. Hurting yourself is really hurting the team, so I just try to stay positive and get better every single day."

The rookie appreciated his talk with Coughlin.

" It's great to have the feeling of your coach having your back and having that talk with him, and just having a comfortable feeling and just knowing and understanding that this is something that I have to deal with, and when time permits, I will be back out there and ready to play," said Beckham, who had 57 catches for 1,117 yards and eight touchdowns last season.

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