As the Giants finished up their three-day minicamp in East Rutherford on Thursday, head coach Pat Shurmur wasn't just fielding questions about his current 90-man roster. He was also asked about one of his former players.
Odell Beckham Jr. has been taking part in his own minicamp with his new team, the Cleveland Browns. After the session on Wednesday, the star receiver looked to have taken a shot at his former quarterback Eli Manning with this comment.
"I'm going to have to get adjusted to the speed because he has an arm,'' Beckham told reporters. "He's throwing that ball hard. Just catching him from the first day, it was like, 'Wow! This is completely different.' It just takes time."
But that's not how Shurmur saw it.
"I wouldn't say it's a criticism of Eli," he said. "It's more of -- hey, he likes who he's playing with."
Pat Shurmur didn't see Odell Beckham's comments as a shot at Eli Manning pic.twitter.com/SolM9UoXcJ
- SNY (@SNYtv) June 6, 2019
Shurmur added that Beckham is just getting comfortable with his teammates, which includes his new quarterback in Baker Mayfield. The 2018 first overall pick by Cleveland has an electric arm, and can definitely sling it as he showed in his rookie season. Beckham will have to figure out his timing with Mayfield, especially on deep balls.
But that isn't the Giants' problem anymore. The past three days has shown Shurmur that his team is very cohesive, and is different to his first season in 2018.
"I see good, competitive play. Both sides of the ball are making plays. I think that's important. I just see the interaction as a team -- the communication on defense, the communication on offense. ...As compared to a year ago when we were putting in our system for the first time, you just see improvements that way."