New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin backed up star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and said in his conference last Wednesday that Beckham was provoked in their loss to the Carolina Panthers last Sunday.
Beckham received three foul penalties in the defeat and got heated with Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, with the two going back and forth during Sunday's game.
Because of the intense matchup, Beckham was suspended by the National Football League (NFL) for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Norman, who on the other hand was fined for two violations.
Now, Coughlin comes to the defense of his wide receiver and said, according to ESPN, "To depict this as Odell Beckham being wrong, and the only one who's wrong, is not right, it's not fair, it's not justice and it's not the way it was."
Coughlin admitted that Beckham was wrong but added that there were factors involved like the Panthers' pre-game antics as they tried to provoke him.
"But the fact of the matter is, the situation in the pregame with the baseball bat, and if you know what occurred at the very beginning of the game, you can understand that there were two sides to this and not just one," the 69-year-old coach also explained.
Beckham tried to appeal the suspension but lost, as he is set to miss an important game versus the Minnesota Vikings on the road Sunday.
Missing Beckam is a huge blow for New York which is trying to make it to the playoffs but is on a very tight race in the National Football Conference (NFC) East.
The Giants are tied with the Philadelphia Eagles at 6–8 for the second spot in the division, with the Washington Redskins leading with a 7–7 record.
After the matchup with Minnesota, the Giants will close the season on Jan. 3, 2016 taking on division rivals the Eagles at home.
