East Rutherford, NJ – New York Giants wide receiver sterling shepherd He suffered what is believed to be a serious left knee injury, multiple sources told ESPN, after Shepherd underwent preliminary tests after Monday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The non-contact injury occurred in the final minutes of New York’s 23-16 loss to Dallas. The final diagnosis will come Tuesday morning, when Shepherd has more tests, but the fear is that his season is over.
Shepherd, who was allowed to train late this summer after tore his right achilles last December, leads the Giants with 154 yards in receiving yards through three games. He has also played the most shots (157) from all the team’s receivers.
“It’s a tough sport. It’s a tough sport,” said coach Brian Dabol. “The guys are working their butts off to recover from injuries. That’s something, if it’s been off the whole season, which we’ll probably know about [Tuesday] Morning… You hurt these guys because you watch them in the rehab room, you watch them out of season. It’s just a shame.”
Shepherd, 29, had a heavy workload early in the season. As a result, he was given a maintenance day on Wednesday.
The injury occurred in the Giants’ final offensive game on Monday night, when Shepherd was running close to the right sideline. He climbed into the car limping and players from both teams came to offer words of encouragement.
“It’s hard. I wouldn’t even lie. It’s hard not to feel suffocated about it,” Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton He said of seeing the injury. “He’s been here since the first day he enlisted. He did a lot for me when I was young. Then I saw him come out of his Achilles last year and rehab for the whole year, and how hard he’s been able to get back there, it’s definitely hard to see.”
The play led to what was essentially the game’s ultimate interception. Right now, that didn’t matter.
Shepard was on the floor writhing in pain.
“It’s hard,” he said, retreating I will be BarclayOne of Shepherd’s best friends on the team. “I’d say I’m one of the biggest competitors, but when I saw Shep fall, I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ “Obviously I realized it was a choice, but at that moment you see it on the floor, I didn’t even want to walk there. I fell down, a quick prayer was said and… it’s hard. He’s been through so many injuries lately, it’s hard to come back and fight the way Which he has, from his Achilles tendon, going forward in a game like this, it’s a tough way to end an emotional match.”
The Giants lost (2-1) for the first time this season and for the tenth time in 11 attempts against their division rivals.
Shepherd was there because of a large part of those losses. He is the longest-lived Giants player. He has been with the team since being selected in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft from the University of Oklahoma.
The veteran receiver took a lump sum of the season to stay in the area and with the Giants. This is the latest blow to a career that has gone off track in recent years.
“I hate to see that for him,” quarterback Daniel Jones He said. “No one deserves it, but not him in particular. He’s running his tail and means a lot to this team, to all of us.”
Shepherd has consistently produced for giants. The problem was that he couldn’t stay on the field.
This will likely be the fourth year in a row that he has missed at least four matches due to injuries. He has dealt with Achilles, quadriceps, hamstrings, toes and concussion injuries for the past few years. Now, it’s his knee.
“I just freak out for the guy,” Daboll said.
But Shepherd was able to recover from his Achilles injury in just over eight months. He looked good in training late this summer and made his return to the season opener against Tennessee on 9/11. He earned a 65-yard touchdown in that contest.
Shepard has 362 functional hunting points for 4,038 yards and 22 touchdowns.
