CLEVELAND — Odell Beckham Jr. looks as if he dodged a huge injury scare and that he came out of Monday night’s 10-6 preseason loss to the Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium with nothing more than a sprained left ankle. But that doesn’t mean some of his Giants teammates are taking the hit that felled their star receiver lightly.
When safety Landon Collins came onto the field after Beckham went down on the second play of the second quarter, he made a beeline to Briean Boddy-Calhoun, a second-year defensive back.
“I said he was wrong for what he did,’’ Collins said. “He said, ‘It is what it is.’
“I’m gonna say it just like this, I couldn’t have a teammate next to me playing that way. I can’t condone it. It’s nothing I seek. He had the opportunity to go out and make a different route. That’s how I feel about it.’’
As the Giants once again put in a summer stinker on offense, for a time they feared their best player was badly hurt. Beckham leaped and hauled in an 18-yard pass from Eli Manning and then was undercut by Boddy-Calhoun, with the defender’s right shoulder making direct contact with Beckham’s left knee — a low blow the Giants did not appreciate. Beckham also hit his head rather hard on the grass as he landed. Beckham stayed down for a few moments, then got to his feet and walked off the field. He then exited, a towel draped over his head. Beckham was shown writhing in pain and dropping to his knees before he was escorted into the locker room.
He was later diagnosed with a sprained ankle after X-rays came back negative. He was also evaluated for a possible concussion, and cleared.
“It feels like a sprained ankle, I don’t know, a rolled ankle, I don’t know,’’ Beckham said. “It feels like you know when you hurt your ankle? It’s kinda what it feels like, but it’ll be all right.”
As for passing the concussion protocol, Beckham said, “They asked me a couple of questions but I know what today is, I know what happened yesterday, and I know who we played last week. So I think I’m all right.”
It was where the strike on Beckham was delivered that angered the Giants.
“The hit, it looked unorthodox, if that makes any sense,’’ safety Nat Berhe told The Post. “That’s all I’m gonna say about that. There’s a target area you shoot for. I personally never go that low, we do have families and kids and stuff like that. I don’t know. Hopefully the guy makes a better decision the next time.’’
Beckham said of the hit “I’m not really the judge, it’s just football in my opinion, but hey … .’’
Ben McAdoo said “it’s football’’ when asked about the hit. “You can’t hit a guy high, you can’t hit a guy low. You try to hit him in the middle. It’s a tough play for a DB.’’
Collins said more than that.
“It’s not a penalty but everybody knows, that’s something you don’t do,’’ he said. “He could have made a play on the ball, he could have hit him high. He chose a different route. I can’t respect him.
“If you play safety, you hit properly. You don’t hit high. That’s the last option, if you can’t make a play on the ball and that’s not how you do it. If you want to get your name known that way, that’s how you do it.’’
Seeing their marquee player go down brought a sickening feeling to the Giants.
“Not many guys could walk away from a hit like that, especially straight on the knee and your feet get caught in the ground, not many guys walk away from that,’’ Collins said. “That’s God blessing him, he got strong bones.’’
The Giants were heartened to see Beckham watch the second half from the sideline, standing in street clothes.
“When I saw that I knew we were good,’’ guard Justin Pugh said.
“Just to see a smile on his face and talk to him and know he’s all right, it’s a relief,’’ added Collins.
It is quite likely Beckham will not play again in the preseason. McAdoo would not commit to anything immediately after the game — “If he can play, he will play,’’ he said — but there is no doubt the Giants might want to cover Beckham in bubble wrap until the regular-season opener.
It was a rough night for the receivers. Brandon Marshall, was forced out with a shoulder injury after he took a hit from Jabrill Peppers.
“It’s sore,’’ Marshall said.
Tavarres King, the No. 4 receiver, had been battling a right ankle issue and reinjured it in the game.