Everyone to a man panicked when the New York Giants revealed wide receiver Sterling Shepard was diagnosed with a fractured thumb after the team’s first practice of training camp.
The injury did not require surgery, which cut the recovery time down from months to weeks. The injury, coming just prior to word of Golden Tate’s suspension for breaking the rules on PED usage, sent ripples of worry throughout Giants social media.
Today, there is little to worry about. Here we are just a little over a week later and Shepard is already participating in drills and has graduated from catching the ball with one hand to snaring it with two. Good news for the Giants.
On Friday, Shepard was relegated to wearing the yellow “pinney” which is like a hazard flag for quarterbacks not to throw the football to him and for defenders to avoid contact with him.
“When we’re in competitive situations, he puts the yellow jersey on,” head coach Pat Shurmur said on Saturday before practice “Not an oversight. But yes, when he’s out there competing with the defense in front of him, most of the time he’s in a yellow jersey.”
That appears to be behind Shepard now. Barring something unforeseen, he should be in the starting lineup on September 8 when the Giants play the Dallas Cowboys in their regular season opener.
