Odell Beckham Jr. Says Playing Without Fans 'Was Dead'; Compares It to Scrimmage

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. wasn't a huge fan of playing without fans in theory. When he was out there, though, he thought it was "kind of cool."

"It was dead. It was dead. It was like a scrimmage," Beckham told Maverick Carter on Uninterrupted's Who's Interviewing Who. "To be honest, there was a part of me that was like, 'Playing no fans would be wack,' and all this. I personally still think they should have waited, and we could have waited it out and possibly seen if it was fans. Let basketball end. But it was actually kind of cool being out there."

Beckham's Week 1 was about as quiet as the stands, as he finished with just three receptions for 22 yards in the Browns' 38-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. He said he could hear everything on the field for the first time in his career—for better and for worse.

"I told somebody, bruh, if I'm in the game and I get smacked and someone on my sideline is like 'oh s--t', I'm gonna be in trouble. I don't know how I'm gonna respond. I can hear everything," Beckham said.

The Browns will have about 6,000 fans in FirstEnergy Stadium for their home opener Thursday against the Cincinnati Bengals. NFL teams continue adhering to the guidelines set up in their respective states regarding COVID-19, and the majority of stadiums were empty in Week 1.

Beckham will have to hope playing in front of fans will wake up a sleepy Browns team that looked every bit as disappointing as last year's outfit last Sunday.