Rams WR Odell Beckham Jr. exits with knee injury after fast Super Bowl start – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

INGLEWOOD — Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. left with a non-contact knee injury after a fast start Sunday in Super Bowl LVI.

Beckham grabbed his left knee as Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford directed a pass his way in the second quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals. Beckham walked off the SoFi Stadium field, but needed assistance from trainers to enter the blue medical tent.

Beckham did manage to head to the locker room under his own power. He was downgraded to out in the third quarter and exited with two receptions for 52 yards and one touchdown.

The Rams’ star wideout scored the Super Bowl’s first points with a 17-yard touchdown grab with 6:22 in the first quarter. Beckham also had a 35-yard reception.

On the play when Beckham was injured, Stafford’s pass hit him while he grabbed his knee with 3:54 remaining in the second quarter. Bengals defenders were a few yards away from Beckham as the injury occurred.

Beckham later joined his teammates on the sideline and wore a white sleeve on his left leg for the rest of the Rams’ 23-20 victory.

THE LAST WORD

Would it be fair to say Eric Weddle still felt like he had a score to settle after his triumphant final moment in the NFL?

Weddle, who confirmed after Sunday’s game that he is re-retiring – after coming out of retirement just before the playoffs to help the Rams when they were shorthanded at safety – took a moment to thank the organization for bringing him back.

But he also had some words for the Chargers, and general manager Tom Telesco, as the last word in a feud that dated to the end of the 2015 season, when Weddle left San Diego on far less than amicable terms. The issue began when the Chargers refused to consider a contract extension, and Weddle responded by skipping OTAs, and it escalated from there.

“I also want to thank ol’ Tom Telesco for the way things ended there and showing me the light and giving me that motivation, that fire, the way things ended there,” Weddle said Sunday night. “I appreciate that, and I always said that Eric Weddle will get the last laugh, and I’m a world champion now … Funny thing how things come right back around. And I’ve always tried to treat people with respect and love and kindness. You should be able to get that in return. And when that doesn’t (happen)… Good things happen to good people. So thank you for that.”

BURROW REFLECTS

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow put his team’s 23-20 loss in perspective, with an assist to a documentary about a former Super Bowl-winning Rams quarterback – albeit a St. Louis Rams quarterback.

“I watched ‘A Football Life’ of Kurt Warner last week when we had a little break and I kind of thought about this in the locker room when they lost one, and later within the documentary they said, or he said, that they let it stinged too much and that they didn’t celebrate what they accomplished,” said Burrow, who completed 22 of 33 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown.

“So, we are going to – obviously it stings – but you know we had a great year, and it didn’t come out this last game like we wanted to, but I think we still have something to celebrate.”

RECORD BOOK

The Rams’ Sean McVay, at 36 years and 20 days, became the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl, beating the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin, who was a slightly older 36.

The Rams’ seven sacks tied a Super Bowl record, as did linebacker Von Miller’s 4 1/2 career sacks in Super Bowls after his two Sunday.

The 82-degree temperature at kickoff made this the second-hottest Super Bowl, two degrees cooler than the 1973 game between the Dolphins and Redskins at the Los Angeles Coliseum.