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It’s been a tough start to life in Baltimore for new Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
After playing in the Ravens’ opening two matchups against the Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals (in which he had a combined five catches for 66 yards), Beckham missed their Week 3 and Week 4 games due to an ankle injury.
Then, on Sunday, against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Beckham Jr. again exited the game with what appeared to be a leg injury.
As a result of his injury-riddled start to his 2023 season and the ACL injury that cost him the entirety of the 2022 season, fans seem to agree that it’s probably time for OBJ to pack it up.
One viral tweet, although it’s a parody, perfectly summarized the way NFL fans are feeling:
“Steelers rookie DB Joey Porter Jr. told #Ravens Odell Beckham Jr. ‘go be a family man’ after intercepting a pass in the endzone intended for him,” the parody tweet, which has over 14,000 likes (thanks, Elon!) says.
“It’s time to get that podcast equipment,” joked another tweet, which has over 19,000 likes at the time of this writing.
While Beckahm Jr. became the fastest player in NFL history to reach 200 yards and 4,000 yards, the milestone came back in 2016, which is a long, long time in NFL years.
Since his final season with the New York Giants in 2018, Beckham has just 146 catches for 1,957 yards in the five seasons since (one of which was 2022, which he sat out). On average, that’s 29 catches for 391 yards per season, which is the output of a player that is a shell of his former self.
After finally signing quarterback Lamar Jackson to a long-term contract during the offseason, the Ravens were hoping the combination of Beckham Jr. and rookie Zay Flowers would provide Lamar with the best receiving weapons that he’s ever had. While Beckham Jr’s season has been marred by injury thus far, Flowers has largely looked the part.