Odell Beckham Jr. logs first-team reps in first meaningful work of Giants camp

Pat Leonard, New York Daily News on Aug 4, 2026

Published in Football

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Odell Beckham Jr. is finally in the mix.

The former Giants star was featured with Jaxson Dart’s first-team offense on Tuesday after seeing sparing playing time with the starters — and minimal targets overall — through the first week of camp.

Beckham caught a pass over the middle from Dart while sinking into an open gap of zone coverage early and looked good running routes and hauling in a couple more throughout the day.

Some load management with the other receivers seemed to play a role in OBJ’s elevated role: Juju Smith-Schuster (knee swelling) didn’t practice, and Darius Slayton and rookie Malachi Fields didn’t do much, either.

Still, it was time to get OBJ more involved. He’s been patient. And it’s time to see what he’s got left.

“I feel like he looked like O,” tight end Isaiah Likely said. “I joke with O all the time. … The young guys ask him how he did it the right way when he was at the top of the top, prime Odell, everything. And then obviously, the dark days Odell, which he’ll tell you, as well. And really just how he stayed the course and really just honed in and understanding that when he’s out here, he’s giving you the best version of himself.”

Beckham mostly had taken the field with backup QB Jameis Winston prior to Tuesday.

The receiver rotation in camp is crowded, so his reps have been sparing. And when he has gotten out there, often he has run clear-out routes for underneath targets to teammates. Or the quarterbacks haven’t looked his way, or they’ve overthrown him on a handful of deep shots.

Both Dart and Winston have tried to connect down the field with him.

Tuesday wasn’t perfect, largely because Dart is struggling to complete passes consistently so far. He targeted Beckham from the 3-yard line and overthrew him incomplete.

Beckham still looks explosive and savvy running deep crossers and getting up the field, though. So John Harbaugh should continue to feature him, especially while Malik Nabers — who did more individual work on Tuesday — remains off the field during team drills.

Nuts and bolts

Wide receiver Dalen Cambre had a big day catching passes from Jameis Winston. Winston threw an end zone interception to Jason Pinnock, then got an extra snap and hit Ryan Miller for a touchdown … The offense committed four penalties in the first 21 snaps, including the first and second team offenses, including false starts by Darnell Mooney, Francis Mauigoa and Josh Ezeudu.