'I'm Ready for Excellence!' Odell Beckham Jr. Sends Message to Ravens Doubters

"Through the smiles there's still this, 'I really want this badly.' I'm ready to be great, ready to be excellent again." - Odell Beckham Jr., sending his Ravens message to the doubters.

Odell Beckham Jr. missed the entire 2022 season as he recovered from knee surgery. OBJ's long-awaited NFL return is on the horizon, with the Baltimore Ravens having signed him to a one-year free-agent deal worth $15 million.

He will bring to Ravens training camp a stellar on-field resume from when he's been healthy. But the 30-year-old wide receiver is showing up with something else as well: A message for his doubters.

"The doubts are for whoever has them to have them, but it's not what enters my mind and my body," the veteran wide receiver said, via ESPN. "I know what I can do."

There has been talk of Beckham being something other than the No. 1 receiver for star quarterback Lamar Jackson as the Ravens install a new offensive system under first-year coordinator Todd Monken. That's possible. But the last time he was on the field was in the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams, and he was on the way to an outstanding day when he got hurt.

"It sucks. There's no way around it," Beckham said recently. "I didn't get to live out that moment. This is really something I've dedicated my entire life to -- this game and this sport -- and I just wanted to have that moment. ... It wasn't something that was easy to live with."

Between that time and his coming Ravens debut when they kick off their regular-season schedule with a Week 1 matchup against the Houston Texans in September, there will exist a 574-days gap between games.

"I'm excited, but I'm also very determined and hungry," Beckham said. "So through the smiles there's still this, 'I really want this badly.' I'm ready to be great, ready to be excellent again."

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