Victor Cruz not happy the Jaguars were 'gunning' for Odell Beckham

Odell Beckham Jr. has gotten a lot of attention since last season ended, but New York Giants teammate Victor Cruz says Beckham was the center of some unfair attention from the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday night.  Last year's NFL offensive rookie of the year has already made quite a name for himself in just one season. That includes landing the cover of this year's "Madden" video game, which was released Tuesday. But that stir might be making him a marked man on the field, including by defensive backs looking to grab a headline by blowing him up on a play. Cruz, who missed this past weekend's game with a calf injury, saw that happening in the first half against the Jaguars. "I was a little unhappy last week, I felt like some of those defensive backs were kind of gunning for him, and it was sad to see that go down because I couldn’t help him," Cruz said Tuesday. "I couldn’t go out there on the field and run routes with him. I couldn’t help him get some of the pressure off of him and things like that." On one play, Beckham pulled up on a deep ball from quarterback Eli Manning and still got popped by a Jag. Cruz, a Pro Bowl wide receiver in 2012, has been in that position before as the star player on offense. "Yeah, I mean like certain stuff I was seeing on the field. Just when guys have the opportunity to get an interception and they don’t even go for the ball," Cruz said. "I get it, it’s preseason, you’re trying to get a job, and I understand that, but let’s just keep it within the game a little bit."

Beckham was targeted five times on Saturday night but didn't catch a pass. He doesn't have a catch yet this preseason. A lot of it has to do with opponents keying in on him. Beckham was upset with some of the defensive backs on Saturday night. "From the line, you can see it as you’re running your route and you’re running a vertical route, and you take a peek at the safety before you look at the ball, and you just see him head down trying to spear you," Cruz said. "You can see that from a mile away. He’s a smart kid, he understands that, but it’s just unfair. It kind of made me upset watching it."