While his acrobatic catch against the Dallas Cowboys drew international attention a few weeks ago, New York Giants wide receiver' Odell Beckham Jr.'s sudden rise into the upper-echelon of NFL wide receivers has been happening over the last two months.

Beckham missed a majority of the preseason and the Giants' first four regular season games with a hamstring injury.

He returned to the field against the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 5, and it took a little time for Beckham to acclimate to the NFL game. In his first three games, Beckham had just 10 receptions for 106 yards.

But in his last six games, the LSU product has hauled in 49 receptions for 723 yards and three touchdowns.

He'll be a handful for the Redskins on Sunday, when they travel to MetLife Stadium to take on the Giants.

"He's just a weapon that you have to deal with all the time," Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said on Thursday. "He's got a lot of targets after him. He's excellent obviously when the ball is in the air and can make acrobatic catches. He can run, and he's one of the top rookie receivers – one of the top receivers in the league right now."

Cornerback David Amerson -- who could line up across from Beckham throughout the game -- said his fellow defensive backs and he "just need to go out there and compete."

"You've got to know that you're going up against a guy that has the spectacular ability to go up there and make the amazing catches," Amerson said. "You've got to go out there and give the best you got. Go out there and you try to make that play or that amazing catch or amazing interception, so it's just all about competing." 

Beckham's presence has opened up the Giants' offensive attack, as tight end Larry Donnell has six touchdowns this season and their offense has collectively recorded 11 rushing touchdowns – tied for seventh-most in the NFL.

"They have a good combination going right now in New York on offense where if you play two safeties and protect against the big plays, they're able to run the ball with their running back, and they do a good job of that," Gruden said. "So, it's going to be important for us to be able to stop the run with two-safety looks and be able to stop the pass with a one-safety look because Eli [Manning] does a good job of recognizing defenses and getting them in good plays."

Manning, meanwhile, has come on strong in recent weeks after one of the worst performances in his career against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 11.

Playing in front of his home crowd that day, Manning threw five interceptions to just one touchdown.

But in his last three games, he's thrown for 845 yards and five touchdowns.

Although Manning's gotten into a rhythm, the Redskins are hoping to prevent him from having a repeat performance from his first game against the Redskins this season when he threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns.

Three of those touchdowns were to Donnell – a player defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said the secondary must keep tabs on at all times.

"One of our main goals is to make sure he doesn't catch any touchdowns," he said. "He's a heck of a player. Kind of didn't know who he was the first game when we played him. A guy out there we thought was very athletic, but he's got half of his touchdowns on us."

RELATED LINKS:-- Redskins-Giants: A Different Look
-- Behind Enemy Lines 2014: Giants Edition

.

.

.