鈥?The New York Giants have opened their first organized team activities under new coach Pat Shurmur with star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in the building.Speaking on a conference call Monday Joe Namath Jets Jersey , Shurmur said he hadn’t yet talked to Beckham, whose name has been mentioned in trade speculation in recent months.The coach didn’t know how many of the voluntary activities Beckham planned to attend or the condition of his left ankle. The ankle was broken in the fifth game of a 3-13 season that led to the firing of coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese .Shurmur said he previously spoke with Beckham about a video that surfaced online showing the 25-year-old who wants to be the NFL’s highest paid player on a bed holding what appeared to be a hand-rolled cigarette. A woman next to him had unidentified white powder on a nearby table.Shurmur didn’t reveal what he said to Beckham. He also is not worried whether the player will be affected by the recent hype surrounding the video and trade rumors.“I really believe that Odell is a professional and he wants to be great,” said Shurmur, who expects to know more about Beckham’s ankle by the end of the week. “He understands the importance of the offseason and he’s a competitive guy and, again, we had already started communicating before all that information kind of got out there and was talked about a great deal. He’s a professional and I’m glad he’s here today.”When healthy, Beckham is a game-breaker. The three-time Pro Bowler has played in 47 games in his first four seasons, catching 313 passes for 4,424 yards and 38 touchdowns. He has averaged 94.1 yards. However, he can be a distraction when his emotions get the best of him on the field and when he does foolish things off the field, like taking a trip to Florida in the week leading up to a playoff game after the 2016 regular season.Quarterback Eli Manning thought it was important for everyone to attend the OTAs with a new offense being installed. He said he didn’t talk to Beckham either after the trade rumors surfaced or the video appeared on the internet. He declined to offer any advice.“Odell Byron Jones Jersey Womens , he’s got to do what is best for him in getting ready to play this upcoming season,” Manning said in a conference call. “I’ll talk to him and give my two cents on everything, but he’s got to do what he feels is best for him to get ready and play at a high level.”While Beckham’s situation dominated the 15-minute conference call, Shurmur made clear that the OTAs would be used to lay the groundwork for 2018.“For the most part, we’re trying to get things started, take advantage of the extra time we have and we want to grow away from basically what happened a year ago, the 3-13 season,” the former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator said. “We want to grow away from that and try to grow into a team that’s competing to win a division, compete in the playoffs, and then hopefully hold up that fifth Lombardi trophy.”Shurmur plans to make some changes in the way the Giants do things.“I just think it’s very important that we’re very professional, we communicate well together and then there is going to be a transfer of information Joe Thomas Jersey Youth ,” he said. “I think we as coaches need to listen to the players, but also teach what we want them to know and then let them tell us what they’re seeing so that we know how we have to teach it further.”The Giants announced that offensive lineman Brett Jones, who started the final 12 games at center and 13 overall, signed his contract tender for next season worth roughly $3 million. New York also signed tight end Ryan O’Malley, who played in one game last season. Major League Baseball will come to Omaha for a day next year as part of an initiative to take the product to new places, commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday.

As part of the buildup for the 2019 College World Series, the Detroit Tigers will play a regular-season game against the Kansas City Royals at TD Ameritrade Park on June 13. The CWS starts two days later.

”The College World Series in and of itself is a great event with a great tradition,” Manfred said at a news conference. ”We hope by playing here we bring even more attention to this game and help strengthen our relationship with the NCAA and college baseball as a whole.”

Manfred said there’s no commitment to play a regular-season game in Omaha beyond next year, but that possibility exists.

MLB has played regular-season games in Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and also at Fort Bragg Authentic Brian Urlacher Jersey , North Carolina, and in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Little League World Series.

”Each of these events has helped focus the attention of the United States and major parts of the world on what we think of as the greatest game of the world,” Manfred said. ”The game here in Omaha will be the next step in this important initiative.”

The Royals-Tigers matchup also will serve to acknowledge the ties between the college and professional game. It will be played in the 24,000-seat stadium that opened in 2011.

”This may be the best non-major league facility in North America,” he said.

Of the 641 drafted players on major league Opening Day rosters this year, 61 percent were from four-year colleges. The Royals chose 34 junior-college or four-year players in this year’s draft; the Tigers picked 35, including the overall No. 1, pitcher Casey Mize of Auburn.

General managers Dayton Moore of the Royals and Al Avila of the Tigers started their careers in college baseball. Moore was an assistant coach at George Mason from 1990-94. Avila was an assistant to current LSU coach Paul Mainieri at St. Thomas University in 1988, and head coach there from 1989-92.

Among the Tigers’ other ties to the CWS: manager Ron Gardenhire played shortstop for Texas in the 1979, catcher James McCann played for Arkansas in 2009 Sam Darnold Jersey , Matt Boyd pitched for Oregon State in 2013. Their No.1 pick last year, pitcher Alex Faedo, helped lead Florida to the 2017 national championship.

Royals left fielder Alex Gordon grew up 50 miles from Omaha, in Lincoln, and played on Nebraska’s 2005 CWS team. The Royals this year drafted Florida’s Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar in the first round.

Omaha has hosted the College World Series since 1950. Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson is from Omaha and Royals greats such as George Brett, David Cone and Frank White played Triple-A ball in Omaha, which has been home to Kansas City’s top farm club since 1969.

”We’re at a point in time in the history of baseball where we all understand the importance of being united and doing everything we can to grow the game,” Moore said, ”so it’s a special honor for the Royals to be able to take part in this historic game.”

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