Giants camp is not off to a great start. One of their top weapons will be out for a while. The team announced Sterling Shepard fractured his thumb on Thursday.
While the fourth-year Giants wide receiver will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis, he will certainly miss some time. It is not certain if the recently extended talent will need surgery. The early word is Shepard’s Week 1 status will be in question, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
Shepard signed a four-year, $41MM extension earlier this year. The team committed to him after trading Odell Beckham Jr. While Shepard and Golden Tate form a solid wideout duo, the Giants are quite thin behind them. They have former Broncos Cody Latimer and Bennie Fowler on board, and sixth-round rookie Darius Slayton showed promise in minicamp. But 2016 Browns first-round pick Corey Coleman profiles as the likely No. 3 wide receiver to start the season. Coleman (five catches in eight Giants games last season) now figures to see extensive time in Big Blue’s starting lineup.
This injury hit the Giants early enough where it’s not out of the question the former second-round pick could be back in time for New York’s opener. Jimmy Graham played through a broken thumb last season, but each injury is obviously different. Shepard finished last season with a career-high 872 receiving yards, his yards-per-reception figure jumping from 12.3 to 16.7 in the games Beckham missed to close the season.