Sterling Shepard isn’t going to play in tomorrow night’s preseason opener, another meeting of the New York Giants and the New York Jets, but that doesn’t mean the Giants’ top receiver Sterling Shepard isn’t working out in practice with the rest of the team still.
After suffering a fractured thumb, Shepard managed to make a quick recovery to catching again, in a matter of weeks rather than months. Shepard is predicted to come back in week one, and from the current recovery timeline, it doesn’t look like the prediction is an unrealistic one.
This week, Shepard has spoken more about the process of getting back into action in practice following the injury.
“My thumb is broken, but my legs aren’t. If I hit it real hard, that’s when it reminds me that it’s broken. I try to catch it just with one [hand] and keep it at that. But instincts kick in from time to time and I throw up two,” Shepard told reporters.
Shepard has also spoken about the yellow jersey that he’s often seen wearing in practice now – the jersey, of course, marks out players that shouldn’t be tackled.
“Time to take it off. But it’s for precautionary reasons and I’m just kind of going with what the trainers want. I think the ultimate goal is to get to that first [regular-season] game, for sure. If I gotta wear it for that, that’s what I’ll do.”
A week one return would help the Giants greatly considering it looks very unlikely at this point that Golden Tate’s PED case will result in the four game suspension being overturned.
The Giants may just end up going into the season with Shepard, Cody Latimer, and Russell Shepard as their three main receivers based on the current state of things – it might not be the worst lineup in the world, even if it’s not what was expected. That, however, will rely on Shepard’s path to recovery staying as consistent as it’s been so far.