Former New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard is back in town. Not as a Giant, mind you, but as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are here to face the Giants on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.
Shepard and the Giants parted ways this past March after eight seasons. The former 2016 second-round pick out of Oklahoma caught on with the Bucs on a one-year deal, which at the time was seen as a depth move.
But that ended quickly as the 31-year-old Shepard was thrust into a larger role after an injury to star wideout Chris Godwin and Mike Evans’ recurring hamstring issues.
Shepard is fully aware of what is happening with his former team, especially with quarterback Daniel Jones, who he played five seasons with. Jones was first benched on Monday and eventually released on Friday.
“I feel for him, man, because I know how hard the dude works. I’ve seen it firsthand and how great of a dude he is,” Shepard told the New York Post. “And he can play ball, man, he’s a good ballplayer. It’s just unfortunate this is the way this business goes sometimes. It’s good to you sometimes, but sometimes it goes the other way and you got to navigate through that.”
Shepard also said he felt the Giants were “a couple of pieces away from being a really good team” and then was asked about the culture now that he’s been in another team’s locker room.
“I think there could be maybe a little bit of work there,” he said. “It’s just different, in so many different ways and so many different levels. When it goes down to the small things, what you can do in the building as a player, the way you’re able to communicate and be hand-in-hand with the coaches, it’s just a lot of different things I kinda picked up on being there for so long.
“Even down to the training staff or the weight coaches and some of the different stuff that we do here, it’s a difference. . . I’m not saying the way that they do it is bad because it’s not. It’s just different and I’ve gotten to see the other side of it.”
Shepard was not re-signed by the Giants because they wanted to get younger and more dynamic at wide receiver, hence the additions of Malik Nabers, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Jalin Hyatt.
Shepard didn’t see the field much in his final season with Big Blue and commented on head coach Brian Daboll, who is 8-19 over the past two seasons.
“I don’t think you go from being the Coach of the Year two years ago to just being a guy that can’t get the job done,” Shepard said. “I don’t believe that. I wish him nothing but the best. I feel like he can be a coach that can produce wins. He’s done it before and he did it early on so I don’t think you just go away from that.”
Whether or not Daboll will have that opportunity beyond 2024 remains to be seen.
