ALLEN PARK, Mich. — It was first down on the Lions’ 35-yard line as Eli Manning tried to get the Giants in the end one, trailing 28-22 with under two minutes remaining. Manning looked to his right, spotted Odell Beckham Jr. curling to the inside and fired a high, hard one that Beckham leaped to ensnare. He came down with the ball and pivoted to get down the field.
The whistle blew the play dead.
This was a sunny Tuesday morning at the Lions’ practice facility, a simulated situation in a joint practice that was in some small way Beckham’s 2018 coming-out party, given the bubble-wrap approach the Giants have taken with their star receiver this summer.