Odell Beckham Jr. focused on getting Giants back to the playoffs

Odell Beckham Jr. isn’t messing around this season as the New York Giants wide receiver is looking just not to pad his gaudy numbers but lead his team to a winning record.

Two years in the NFL have been kind for Beckham, an All-Pro in each of his first two seasons in the league and one of the game’s brightest young stars. But it has also been two years of losing records, identical 6-10 marks in his first two seasons in the league not good enough for the playoffs. And it is the playoffs, the grandest stage of them all, that is a fitting place to showcase Beckham’s abilities.

On Wednesday Beckham was asked about topping his production in his first two seasons and he discussed not his personal numbers but his team’s record. He’s led the Giants in receiving his first two years in the league.

“I definitely want to get better each and every year. Whether it’s put up better numbers, but I just want to get better every year. The numbers mean something in a sense, but the 6-10 number, flip that around, 10-6 means a lot more. I just hate losing,” Beckham said.

“I’m cool with other people being open, we’re scoring. There’s no better feeling than being on the field and everything is clicking and we’re winning games. I remember my freshman year in college. We were 13-0 and I wasn’t going for 120 yards a game. It was 50 yards, five catches, the blocks that you made to spring a running back. It’s really about winning. I hate losing.”

The Giants haven’t had a winning record since 2012 when they were 9-7 and haven’t made the playoffs since 2011.

He also addressed issues of being a “villain” in the NFL, a tag that has surfaced repeatedly especially surrounding his feud with Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman. He essentially shrugged off the suggestion, saying that he doesn’t perceive himself that way or embrace that outlook.

“I have fun. I’m myself at all times and I don’t think it’s necessarily liked all the time, unless you’re on my side. I can’t really control that,” Beckham said. “Like I said, I can’t control who likes, doesn’t like, likes me. It’s football at this point.”