He wants to do more. He probably can do more. For now, though, the Giants are content to take it slow and easy with Odell Beckham Jr., with the star receiver coming off a fractured left ankle.
“He looks good,” head coach Pat Shurmur said Monday after the Giants’ first organized team activity practice. “He’s out here moving around, he’s champing at the bit wanting to get out and do more than we’re allowing him to do at this point. But I think we’re just trying to make sure that everything is healed to the fullest before we put him out there.”
Beckham stretched with his teammates and participated in a few early agility drills, catching soft-tosses from coaches. When it came time for the receivers to run routes and haul in passes from quarterbacks, Beckham was off on the side, his workday complete.
Last spring, Beckham did not attend the OTAs. This year, seeking a long-term contract extension, Beckham is on the scene.
“Odell’s here No. 1 because he gets to — he can’t fully compete yet, but he gets a chance to see it, and there is a lot to be learned by watching and it’s good to have him here,” Shurmur said.
It did not take rookie running back Saquon Barkley long before he made an impact in his first practice with the veterans, hauling in a touchdown pass from Eli Manning in a red-zone drill.
“I didn’t even realize that I scored,’’ Barkley said. “I guess that’s kind of cool now that I think about it.’’
As for getting to work with Manning every day, Barkley said: “It has been amazing. Obviously he is a great guy; he’s a great quarterback. But he’s so knowledgeable about the game — he knows every single play where you’re supposed to be, where everybody is supposed to be. Ask a lot of questions. I think I’m probably annoying to him a little bit, but I continue to ask him a lot of questions, and I just want to expand on my knowledge of the game.’’
The starting offensive line (left to right) at the outset of practice: Nate Solder, Patrick Omameh, Brett Jones, John Greco and Ereck Flowers. Later, rookie Will Hernandez moved in at left guard and Omameh moved to right guard. … LB B.J. Goodson tipped a pass to himself for an interception.
Davis Webb connected deep with Roger Lewis.
“Every day he does something a little bit better,’’ Shurmur said of Webb.
DT Damon “Snacks’’ Harrison did not attend this first OTA.
“He’s been here a little bit, but I know he’s not here and I know why he’s not here,” Shurmur said. “I will just leave it at that.’’
Anyone betting Will Hernandez would be involved in the first scuffle of OTAs is a winner. The rookie guard, described as “nasty” and “cranky,” got into a shoving match with LB B.J. Goodson after a running play before they were separated.
Shurmur threw out the first ball Sunday at Citi Field and admitted he took some ribbing from his players for his errant throw — it bounced far short of the plate and sailed wide right.
“Yeah, well, I was wasting a pitch, that’s what I was doing,’’ he said, laughing. “Like some good pitchers might.”
Wide receiver Russell Shepard is signing with the Giants, he announced on Instagram. Shepard previously was with the Panthers and is another player brought in by Dave Gettleman, the former GM in Carolina. Shepard had 47 receptions in four years with the Buccaneers before signing a three-year deal with the Panthers in 2017. He was released last week after he declined to take a pay cut.
