New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard has ditched the yellow non-contact jersey he’s been wearing in practice.
In July, New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard came away holding his left hand during a training camp practice. Doctors diagnosed him with a fractured thumb, which actually led to sighs of relief. Staff would evaluate the veteran receiver on a day-to-day basis.
Despite catching footballs and participating in full-team drills, Shepard had been wearing a yellow non-contact jersey. However, as of Sunday, Shepard has ditched the jersey.
“I didn’t think the yellow jersey was doing much anyway. It’s not that big of a difference,” Shepard said, per Dan Benton of Giants Wire.
Shepard is now just wearing a black splint on his thumb.
The Giants, of course, aren’t playing Shepard in the preseason. There’s no reward for the risk they’d be taking, especially with the amount of money they’re paying him. Big Blue gave Shepard a four-year, $41 million extension this past April.
He’s not healthy enough to hit the field yet anyway. But, Shep is confident he’ll be good to go come Week 1.
“If I could go, I would be going. I can’t go right now, it’s not ready to play in a game and I know that,” Shepard said. “Give it a couple more weeks and I feel like it will be. You don’t want to go out there and risk another injury when you can prevent that.”
The Giants play their first regular-season game against the Cowboys in Dallas on Sept. 8. Shepard could be Eli Manning‘s top target this year, now that Odell Beckham Jr. is a member of the Cleveland Browns.
