If there is one thing Giants tight end Travis Beckum hasn’t had this season, it’s what he believes is the first and most important step toward success.
“I have the opportunity now and I think that’s the one thing I’ve lacked all year: The opportunity to actually go out there,” Beckum said yesterday. “So I’m going to try and take advantage of it.”
Beckum will get his opportunity to face the Jets because the Giants’ starting tight end, Jake Ballard, is out with a knee injury. Come tomorrow, the onus will lie with Beckum and Bear Pascoe to pick up where Ballard left off.
CHAT WITH JETS BEAT REPORTER BRIAN COSTELLO, TODAY, 2:30
“I think that with Jake being down,” Beckum said, “it’s time for me to step up.”
Both Beckum (chest) and Pascoe (ribs) were listed on this week’s injury report, but both were expecting to play.
And the time has never been more ripe, because the Jets defense has been susceptible to giving up huge games to tight ends, none more prominent than last week’s performance by the Eagles’ Brent Celek, who had five catches for 156 yards and a touchdown in a 45-19 Philadelphia win.
“I think with all the things they’re doing defensively, I think there are holes in the defense,” Beckum said. “For everybody, not just tight ends. There are things we’re going to try and exploit.”
Pascoe is a similar build to Ballard, standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 283 pounds. That is the ideal mold for a tight end, similar to that of Kevin Boss, who was an integral weapon for quarterback Eli Manning and the Giants offense the past four seasons before signing with Oakland as a free agent this offseason.
“I’ve spent extra time with [Eli] as much as I could,” Pascoe said. “Out on the field, it’s ‘Hey, is there anything I can do different?’ I’ll change whatever I need to change to get him a better look, and so far everything has been good. I know he has got confidence in me, and I’ve got confidence in myself.”
Ballard hasn’t been able to run on the knee he injured last Sunday, but would not rule himself out for the season finale against Dallas. He is in a tough situation: He want to be out on the field, but also wants his fellow tight ends — with whom he is pictured in a photo hanging in his locker — to succeed.