Sources: Rams Fear Torn ACL for Odell Beckham Jr.
Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. suffered a non-contact left knee injury with just under four minutes to play in the second quarter of Sunday’s 23–20 Super Bowl LVI victory over the Bengals.
He left the game and did not return, though he eventually watched his teammates pull out the win on the sidelines.
According to The MMQB's Albert Breer, Beckham went down ”with what the Rams fear to be a torn ACL.“
Beckham tore his left ACL while with the Browns in 2020. He is scheduled to become a free agent next month.
Los Angeles’s wide receiver logged two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown before the injury. At halftime, Beckham received comfort from Rams wide receiver Robert Woods, who has been out since November due to a torn ACL.
”Yeah I actually spent some time with him in the locker room before coming out after halftime and just, really just held him,“ Woods said. ”It's tough. He's dealt with a lot I would say his whole career ... but just being able to hold him and say, ‘I'm right with you.’ I'll be here every step. Every rehab day. ... He's a competitor, I know he'll be back even stronger and hopefully he's back with us.“
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According to The MMQB, Los Angeles’s eventual game-winning touchdown to wide receiver Cooper Kupp came on a play designed for Beckham.
“We said to ourselves, We’re gonna put Cooper out there. It really would’ve been Odell in that spot, but we said, You know what? We’re going to move Cooper out there, let him go one-on-one to go win a Super Bowl,” offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell said. “And I didn’t expect anything else from those guys.”
Kupp would finish the game with eight catches for 92 yards and two receiving touchdowns. He added one rush for seven yards, the lone carry coming on a critical fourth-down in the fourth quarter.
Beckham was emotional after the victory and took to social media afterward to write, ”This was exactly God's plan.”
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- Super Bowl LIV Takeaways
- Matthew Stafford Rewrote His Story With a Super Bowl Season
- Ram Digest: Comeback Win Over Bengals in Super Bowl LVI Completes All-In Master Plan
For more coverage of the Rams, visit Ram Digest