Odell Beckham Jr. Rumors: 'Some Optimism' Browns WR Returns from Injury in Week 3

The Cleveland Browns reportedly have "some optimism" wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will make his season debut in the team's Week 3 game against the Chicago Bears on Sept. 26.

Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported Thursday that Beckham, who suffered a torn ACL last October against the Cincinnati Bengals, has "impressed those around him" with his recovery from the knee injury.

Beckham has been practicing with the Browns since late August and was listed as a game-time decision ahead of Sunday's 33-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs before being declared inactive.

Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski ruled out the three-time Pro Bowl selection for Week 2 against the Houston Texans on Wednesday. The early decision raised concerns about whether the wideout had suffered a setback with his knee, but Stefanski confirmed that wasn't the case.

"He was pushing to get there. [I] just didn't feel like he could play a significant number of snaps," Stefanski told reporters. "I just felt like this for this week, the prudent thing to do was let those other [receivers] get all those reps and, let's game-plan accordingly."

Beckham, who topped 1,000 yards for the fifth time in his career during his first season with Cleveland in 2019, was off to a sluggish start in 2020 with just 319 yards through seven games before the injury.

The former New York Giants standout told Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com in July he'd let the doctors decide when it was time for him to suit up in a game again.

"It's whenever I'm ready to get on the field, that's when it will be. Whenever the team, the docs, my team, everything gets cleared, we'll be ready to go," Beckham said. "So whenever that is, Week 1, Week 17, I don't know. Whenever we're ready we'll be ready."

The Browns offense performed well despite his absence against the Chiefs. They outgained the two-time defending AFC champions, 457-397, but couldn't hold off a K.C. rally as Patrick Mahomes and Co. scored 23 points in the second half to pick up the season-opening win.

Getting Beckham back would still provide a boost for Cleveland, especially if he can emerge as one of the league's best big-play threats again.

The Browns have a late bye (Week 13). If it was earlier in the campaign, the staff may have opted to wait until the off week to get him back to full speed with the offense. Instead, it'll likely be a week-to-week situation until he clears all of the necessary hurdles.

If that doesn't happen in time to face the Bears, the next chances for Beckham to return will come in back-to-back road games to open October against the Minnesota Vikings (Oct. 3) and Los Angeles Chargers (Oct. 10).