- Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is feared to have suffered a serious knee injury during Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
- OBJ is scheduled to have a MRI on Monday morning.
- After an embarrassing 6-10 finish last year the Browns are 5-2 so far this season.
After a hugely disappointing 2019 season in which the Cleveland Browns came to epitomize ‘over-hyped underachievement’ the 2020 NFL season has gotten off to a good start. Baker Mayfield is still learning on the job but the Browns are 5-2 after a hard fought 37-34 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Mayfield had one of his best games as a pro throwing a career high five touchdown passes with four coming in the second half as the Browns erased a 17-10 halftime deficit. Mayfield saved his best work for last as he connected on a jaw droppingly impressive 24 yard touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones to seal the win in the final minute of the game.
Unfortunately, the victory was tough for Cleveland to savor as they’re facing some bad news on the injury front. Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. limped to the locker room in the first quarter and there is a growing concern that he has suffered a serious knee injury. He was ruled out of the game at that point and the fear now is that he could be done for the season. He’ll get a MRI on Monday morning to determine the severity. Several reports suggest that OBJ has suffered a ‘major injury’.
The injury occurred when OBJ was trying to make a play on Darius Phillips after he intercepted a Baker Mayfield pass. He got caught up in a tangle of players and ended up going down after leaving his feet trying to avoid fullback Andy Janovich.
Beckham has 23 receptions for 319 yards and three touchdowns this season. In the previous matchup against the Bengals in prime time on Thursday Night Football in Week 2 he had four receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown. He was a complete non-factor in last week’s 38-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in which he caught just two passes for 25 yards.
OBJ has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career missing a combined 27 games during six seasons. There’s a good chance that he’ll miss the final games of this season. Even before the injury Browns’ fans were starting to question the ‘return on investment’ of Beckham’s five year $90 million contract. He’s got three years remaining on that deal.
After the game Baker Mayfield talked about some words of encouragement that he exchanged with his injured teammate:
The Browns will host the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. The game is off the board at a number of books due to the uncertain status of Beckham. The sportsbooks that do have the game posted have the Browns installed as a -3 point home favorite with the total set at 55.5.
