Dallas Cowboys safety J.J. Wilcox was glad Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was OK after he rung the second-year receiver’s bell in the first half of the regular season opener with a hit so vicious, it broke his own nose.
“I’m glad he’s alright, though--at the end of the day you want to be safe,” Wilcox told the team’s official website. “He’s a good player, and I don’t want to wish hurt on nobody.”
That said, Wilcox couldn’t deny that the hit felt good.
“Safeties, that’s what you live for. That’s what you dream about, and all that good stuff,” Wilcox said. “It wasn’t only me--it was the pass rush, it was the cornerbacks playing close on him. When I got an opportunity, I had to make it.”
The opportunity came in the first half when Giants quarterback Eli Manning hit Beckham in the middle of the field for what looked like a fifteen-yard gain and a first down. Wilcox came flying in a split second after the ball got there, laid a hit on Beckham and saw the ball go squirting to the turf for an incomplete pass.
“He’s a hell of a player, and I knew that I had to bring my A-game when I was around him or close to him,” Wilcox said. “I tried to do that and help my teammates out.”
