Odell Beckham's year off gave him ample time to put on some muscle.
Not that he needed it, of course, but Beckham arrived to Ravens camp looking like a bigger, stronger version of himself. Folks in Owings Mills, Maryland certainly noticed on Thursday.
"Somebody was like, 'How much do you weigh, 180?' " Beckham said, via the team's official site. "It was funny to me because I'm nowhere near 180. I've been working hard. There's a lot of work I had to put in to step back onto the field and compete with the best in the world."
Beckham has encountered more than his share of injuries, and most have interrupted the second half of his career. If anything, the logic Beckham is using boils down to a simple theory: If I prepare my body in the weight room, I might prevent another health issue.
"I've been working," Beckham said. "It's about a gradual peak. If you were ready to play a game in minicamp, when is that slope going to start to turn downward? It was a lot of hard work … going from the gym, to the field. (I'm) just happy that you see it."
Beckham has learned this lesson. In his first season in Cleveland, he suffered a core muscle injury prior to the start of the season, through which he was forced to play during the entire 2019 season.
A torn ACL followed in 2020, ending his season after just seven games. A year later, another ACL tear -- this time, suffered in Super Bowl LVI -- cost him the entire 2022 season.
The worst thing that can happen to him at this point in his career is another significant injury. At 30 years old, he doesn't have the time to afford another setback, and he's prepared accordingly.
