Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr. on cheap shots: ‘Steve Wonder can see it’

Odell Beckham Jr. just went there, calling down the Stevie Wonder line to criticize officials.

Since the opening couple of weeks of the season, Beckham has been critical of officiating and what he feels is targeting from opposing defenders. His comments – as well as lashing out on the field – has largely been a result of what he sees as the opposition taking cheap shots at him.

This week, Giants head coach Ben McAdoo (kinda, sorta) came to his defense this week. Beckham was asked about his head coach co-signing his displeasure with the men in stripes. His answer invoked Wonder, the visually challenged singer/songwriter.

“It doesn’t surprise me. Like I said, everyone knows what’s going on on the field. Everyone can see it. Stevie Wonder can see it. It just is what it is. You can’t do anything about it. There’s no point. I shouldn’t have even brought it up. It’s always a lose-lose situation,” Beckham said. “Either you’re speaking out on it and trying to defend yourself or the other way around in which you’re complaining. Either way it goes, I shouldn’t have ever brought it up. Nothing is going to change. No calls are going to be made because of what I say now. You just have to keep playing. You know what you’re going against. It’s the Giants against everyone. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Despite the perceived targeting and cheapshots, Beckham is still producing. On Sunday in a loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers, he had six catches for 100 yards, far and away the best numbers for the Giants in that game. This season he’s already topped 1000 yards for the third time in his career.

But his other teammates haven’t been so fortunate. Victor Cruz was held without a catch in Sunday’s loss and the week before, rookie wide receiver Sterling Shepard wasn’t even targeted.

“Just spread it around. Move it around and play fast. I feel like when you play fast, it makes it harder for other teams. They may make mistakes,” Beckham said. “ Even if you play fast and make a mistake, at least you’re making it full-speed. I think it’s a lot harder for defenses to adjust and call what they want to call when the offense is moving at such a fast pace. I feel like the defense will worry about lining up more. Definitely have to find ways to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers. Like we’ve been preaching, we just need to be more productive on offense. Just have to be more productive.”