Odell Beckham listed as questionable for Week 1 vs. Cowboys

The health of Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham for Week 1 has been a question mark, and there’s not much clarity now.

Since being injured in the Giants’ third preseason game, and perhaps playing things up dramatically for the ESPN Monday Night Football cameras near the locker room, Odell Beckham’s ankle issue has been an ongoing question mark. Now, officially on Friday’s final injury report for Week 1, he has been listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Pro Football Talk reported Beckham as 50-50 for the game Sunday night, which is the definition of questionable, and he did not practice fully on Wednesday or Thursday. Holding Beckham out of meaningful practice is surely a measure of caution by the Giants, or an attempt to throw the Cowboys off by reducing their expectations he will suit up. NFL teams are generally smarter than that though, in terms of fully buying an opponent’s injury report, and the Cowboys have probably prepared for either scenario in regard to Beckham’s status.

It’s worth noting the NFL eliminated the probable designation from injury reports prior to last season, as the league deemed that 95 percent of players listed that way wound up playing in that week’s game. It doesn’t seem like Beckham would have drawn a probable designation if it still officially existed, but there is small chance he would have.

Having until Sunday night to get closer to full strength should benefit Beckham, and it increases the odds he will be active by some measure. But he will surely not be operating at 100 percent capacity if he is active, and he could simply be a decoy on a lot of his snaps.

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One tell-tale sign to watch for with Beckham on Sunday night, beyond the Giants’ declaration of inactives, will be his pre-game warmup routine if he has one. NBC’s pre-game on-field cameras will surely capture him if he is going to be in uniform, or his absence will be noted.