GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If we needed another reason to marvel at Odell Beckham's rookie season in 2014, consider the news he dropped on Sunday night after a five-catch performance in the Pro Bowl: He played the whole year with a pair of muscle tears in his leg.
"I was never really fully healthy for the season anyways," Beckham said. "So, I was just trying to manage and maintain it the best I could all year."
Beckham said the tears were sustained to his semitendinosus and bicep belly. The initial tear was suffered early in camp and the second happened a few weeks later when he tried to come back, the latter of which prolonged his comeback.
He said he'll need to shut himself down this offseason in order to enter next season in good shape, a process which begins immediately. He'll remain in Arizona to work on his recovery.
"It's still not right, I'm still working on it," Beckham said. "I'm trying to get it 100 percent for next year."
This would explain the wideout's initial reticence in speaking about the issue, compounded by the fact that he was a rookie shouldered with plenty of expectation.
But it also puts his first year into a different context. Though all NFL players come out of a season with some degree of injury, Beckham is preparing to high-step away with the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, which will be unveiled Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, despite missing four games.
Imagine an adjusted 16-game total for a healthy player who already caught 91 balls for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns.
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