New York Giants place Sterling Shepard on IR, WR out for Sunday’s matchup with 49ers (Report)

The New York Giants have reportedly placed Sterling Shepard on injured reserve after he suffered a turf toe injury in Week 2.

The New York Giants were already going to miss Saquon Barkley this Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers — the star running back tore his ACL during the Week 2 loss in Chicago. And now, it looks like he won’t be the only offensive weapon that will spend time on the sidelines.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, wide receiver Sterling Shepard will also miss the team’s Week 3 matchup. Shepard is dealing with turf toe, an injury he sustained right before halftime against the Bears.

The #Giants won’t have WR Sterling Shepard this week vs the #49ers, source said, as he deals with turf toe. So while #NYG gets some help with Davonte Freeman signing this morning, they still will be far from complete on offense.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 23, 2020

By the time Shepard was ruled out of the game, he had caught just two balls for 29 yards.

Health-related setbacks have been common with Sterling. Multiple trips to the concussion protocol caused him to miss six games last year and a number of different injuries led to him missing five games in 2017. Since his entrance into the league in 2016, he’s played just two full seasons (2016, 2018).

Daniel Jones is used to playing without each of his top offensive weapons though. This past Sunday — his 14th career start — was the first game in which the second-year quarterback was able to play with all of Shepard, Barkley, Evan Engram, Golden Tate, and Darius Slayton. Saquon’s injury, however, forced that to last just over a quarter.

Update: On Wednesday morning, the Giants decided to place Shepard on injured reserve, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This will keep him out for at least the next three weeks and means the Giants will really have to find a reliable way to replace one of their starting receivers with games against the Niners, Rams, and Cowboys on deck.

Shepard will thus be experiencing his 12th, 13th, and 14th missed games as a Giant.