For the first time since the 2019 season, Ravens receiver Odell Beckham Jr. caught passes for more than 100 yards in a regular-season game. Afterward, OBJ took a look at the not-always-easy past.

The Baltimore Ravens’ 34-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals was a statement. With a record of 8-3, the team led by quarterback Lamar Jackson is at the top of the AFC North.

The only downer: the ankle injury to tight end Mark Andrews, which will probably mean the end of the season. Instead, another pass receiver, Odell Beckham Jr., stepped into the breach.

For the first time since the 2019 season, OBJ recorded more than 100 receiving yards in a regular-season game. “That was just a step in the right direction,” the 2021 Super Bowl winner told the media afterwards and made it clear: “We have to keep working.”

The wide receiver also stated that he had had a difficult few months. He missed the entire 2022 season due to a torn ACL and subsequent rehab, and it took him some time to become a pillar of the Ravens’ passing game.

“I was injured at the start of the season. I couldn’t be myself. I didn’t have the explosiveness. I couldn’t move the way I wanted to and I don’t think people knew what I was struggling with,” said the 31-year-old.

Baltimore Ravens: Lamar Jackson and OBJ are harmonizing better and better

Now OBJ is looking ahead: “I want to be as good as I can be to help my team and make plays.” In all likelihood, the shoulder injury he suffered in the fourth quarter will no longer prevent him from doing so. Both he and Head Coach John Harbaugh were quick to give the all-clear after the game.

His playmaker is also happy about his pass receiver’s leap in performance. “If we keep going, keep practicing, keep getting better every week and he keeps doing what he’s been doing, I feel like our chemistry is going to skyrocket,” Lamar Jackson is quoted as saying in the media.

The pair could cause another sensation as early as next week. Then the duel with the Los Angeles Chargers and their weakening pass defense is on the agenda.