Odell Beckham Jr.

Odell Beckham Jr. defends highly criticized trip to Miami: 'I'm a grown man'

Published Jan. 4, 2017 1:17 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

The New York Giants closed out their regular season with a win over the Redskins on Sunday, and not long thereafter, a few players caught a flight to Miami. Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard, Victor Cruz and Roger Lewis flew to South Beach to party with Justin Bieber and reportedly Johnny Manziel, and have since caught a great deal of flak for their trip.

Eli Manning made light of the situation and Ben McAdoo said he had no issue with his players using their day off to hang out in Miami, but that didn’t silence the critics. Many still believe they made a poor decision ahead of Sunday’s huge playoff matchup with the Packers. Beckham isn’t one of those people.

“We were going to (Florida) to get our minds right,” Beckham said, via the NY Daily News. “That’s what we we’re doing. I handle my business. I’m a grown man. I do what I am supposed to be doing. I’m in the building, when I’m supposed to be in the building. I don’t miss team meetings. None of that.”

“I’m not perfect, but everybody knows my passion for football, when I’m on the football field,” Beckham continued. “I’m here for the NY Giants, especially over the next four weeks. Now, we are about to make a run, about to make a push; it’s go time. Everybody is focusing on what they need to be focusing on.”

"There's nothing really to talk about, Mike," Cruz said. "To be honest those things are personal, from my personal life that don't need to be discussed. It doesn't have anything to do about football. It doesn't really matter.

He continued by saying everyone was present on Tuesday and no issue came of it.

"Trust me, if somebody was late or not on time you would have heard it before I did this interview,” Cruz said. “Everybody was on time, ready to rock and roll."

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Odell Beckham Jr.

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