New York Post, Monday, August 19, 2019nypost.com47By ZACH BRAZILLEREven Sterling Shepard didn’texpect this much
progress this soon.
The Giants’ new No.1widereceiver hoped
his fractured left thumbwouldn’tkeep him out
of theregular season opener Sept.8 against the
Cowboys. But threeweeks ago, after he suffered
the injury on thefirs t day of training camp,
there were doubts how it would heal.
“A t firstIwasalittle bit ner-
vous,” he said.
On Sunday, Shepard was able
to practice like any other wide
receiver — without theyellow
no-contact jersey he’s been
sporting all summer— for
thefirst time since the injury.
Th e thumb isn’t10 0 per ce nt
— Shepard admitted he isn’t
ready to play in Thursday’s
third preseasonga meat Ci n-
cinnati,which likely means
he won’t appear in any of the
team’s four preseasoncontests
— but is further along than he
could’ve imagined itwould be
at this point.
“It’ s actually healed up pretty fast and... I’m
feelinggood,” said Shepard,who is stillwearing
a splint and has been practicing mostof training
camp despite the injury. “I wouldn’tsay I’m all
the way back, but I’m pretty close. I’mwhereI
needto be. I feel good about that.”
AddedcoachPat Shurmur: “He’s been cleared
all alongto be out here.It’s just the next stepin
the process.He’s fine.”
Shepard is wearinga smallpad underneath
the splint,which he hopesto get rid of soon,to
alleviate discomfortwhen he catches theball.
He ditched theyellow jersey forafew reasons:
Team doctors said itwasn’t needed anymore,
and hewas stillgetting hit on occasion anyway.
“It’ s not that bigof a difference,” said
the5-foot-1 0 Shepard, thefourth-
year pro who caught 66passes for
872 yards andfour touchdownsayear ago. “I guess it makesguys more cautious
of hittingyou[whenyou have theyellow jersey
on].I kindof need that contact.”
It’s more symbolic than anything else, anoth-
er step inovercoming the injury that was once
thoughtcouldco st hima significant portionof
the early part of the season. Instead, Shepard
seems likely to be out there in Dallas ina few
weeks.
“I don’t see any-
thing that can hold
meback right now,
unless somethingwas
to happen in prac-
tice,” he said. “I’m on
pace.”
Of course, this
wasn’t how the
Giants imagined the
summer goingfor
the25-year-old.The
team’s top target at
widereceiver now
that OdellBeckham
Jr. is inCleveland,
Shepard will be criti-
calto theoffense,
especially because GoldenTate will be out the
first four gamesfor violatingthe league’s per-
formance-enhancing substance policy. Shepard
signeda four-year, $41 millionextension in the
offseason and will becounted onto produce as
he faces the opposition’s to p defensive backs
weekly and leads an inexperienced unit early
on.
“The [lastfour]gamesof last season,I was
in thesame situation [withBeckham out witha
bruised quad].I felt likeIhandled it pretty well,
so I imagine it being the same way,” he said. “I’m
goingto go out and bemyself and leteverything
take care of itself.
“I’ll be bouncing arounda little more thanI
would if [Tate were active]. I kindof expected
that going into the season anyway. Mymindset
is on that, and it should be fun.”
[email protected]WE HAVE
CONTACT
Shepard takes another
step in recovery, ditching
yellow, hands-off jersey
WE
CONT
“It’s actually healedup
prettyfast and... I’m
feeling good.I wouldn’t
say I’m all the way back,
but I’m prettyclose.I’m
whereI need to be.I feel
good about that.”
— SterlingShepard