Sterling Shepard has not had much of a summer.
He came down with a sprained ankle early in training camp, missed practice time and the Giants’ first preseason game. He played in Monday’s 10-6 loss at Cleveland, getting 23 snaps and catching three passes, but for just 9 yards.
Saturday night’s game against the Jets figures to be Shepard’s most extensive work before the start of the regular season. Most of the Giants’ starters will play into the third quarter, and with numerous injuries at receiver — most notably to Odell Beckham Jr. (ankle) and Brandon Marshall (shoulder) — Shepard, entering his second NFL season, suddenly finds himself as the most accomplished target for Eli Manning.
“Man, it is kind of crazy,” Shepard said. “With Odell and Brandon going down, Eli is like, ‘You are the only kind of familiar face I got out there.’ That’s why I got to play. I got to know my assignments, make sure I know other people’s assignments as well. Guys that aren’t used to being out there, they are going to be running around, they might not know what to do, so I got to be the leader there. But I think I am ready for it.”
Tavarres King and Dwayne Harris also are likely to be held out with injuries, meaning this will be a makeshift group of receivers for the Giants in their third preseason game. After Roger Lewis (in his second season), get ready for Travis Rudolph, Jerome Lane, Canaan Severin, Ed Eagan, C.J. Germany and Marquis Bundy. None of those six ever has played in an NFL game, and only Rudolph and Lane were with the Giants at the start of camp.
After Manning is finished with his night’s work, the battle for the backup quarterback job will pick up again, with Geno Smith seemingly ahead of Josh Johnson. It might be difficult for any of the quarterbacks to show much, given the inexperience of the receivers.
“They still have to go out and play,” head coach Ben McAdoo said. “They have to trust the players that they are playing with. We will make adjustments with what we do in the game with players who haven’t been around here very long, but they will still have to go out and compete.”
With an offense that has scored 18 points (on six field goals) and turned the ball over five times in two preseason games, McAdoo is not looking for miracles, just signs of progress.
“I am looking for getting in a little bit of a rhythm,” he said. “We want to take care of the ball. That’s important to us. We want to play with some physicality, complete the ball and just get a little bit better. Find a way to make some gains this week.’’
Wide receiver Kevin Snead was waived off injured reserve. Wide receivers Darius Powe and Andrew Turzilli were added to IR after clearing waivers.