It is a sigh of relief for the New York Giants as Sterling Shepard won’t be shelved long-term, the wide receiver figuring to be a bigger part of the offense this year. Now with injury concerns aside, Shepard can focus on the much bigger picture of building on his rookie season.
Earlier this week, Shepard was carted off the field with concerns that his injury might be long-term or potentially cost the receiver the season. Instead, the ankle sprain isn’t serious and the second-year wide receiver is vowing to be ready for the season opener.
Even head coach Ben McAdoo, not one to be overly verbose, keenly admitted on Friday that the injury was “nothing serious, nothing new.”
“I didn’t have an idea of what was going on and I didn’t know the severity of it, so I was kind of scared at first. But the pain started dying down a little bit, I got to move it a little bit, and it didn’t swell up as much as I thought it was going to, so that kind of eased my mind a little bit,” Shepard said on Friday. “Then when we got the results back from the x-ray and the MRI, everything was pretty clean so it was all good.”
The ankle, he says, is “10 times better” than earlier this week.
What this means is that the Giants have an explosive weapon who should be ready for the regular season.
Last year, Shepard showed flashes of big play potential in his rookie season, the former second round pick exceeding expectations. His route running was solid as was his downfield blocking.
With the injury scare behind him, Shepard can focus on the playbook as well as his rehab to get ready for the season’s start in a few weeks time.
“The new stuff, I have been through it, I have done it. I am one of those guys that if I do it one time and I mess up on it that one time, I will correct it,” Shepard said. “I don’t make too many mistakes, so I am sitting in the meetings so I shouldn’t fall behind play-wise too much.”
Last year, Shepard played in all 16 games and was second on the Giants with 65 receptions for 683 yards and eight touchdowns.
