Sterling Shepard spending more time out of the slot in camp

The New York Giants held their seventh training camp practice on Thursday morning, the first A.M. practice of camp. Again, they were in full pads. The temperature was near 90 degrees and the humidity was high as well.

The offense wasn’t clicking like it has been over the past week, perhaps the change in time and the weather had something to do with that.

Despite this, third-year wideout Steerling Shepard is excited for what the offense is capable now that everyone is back healthy and Saquon Barkley is in the mix. Shepard could easily have a Pro Bowl year, filling in the gaps while defenses concentrate on Barkley, Odell Beckham, Jr. and Evan Engram.

He’s not one for setting personal goals, however.

“Not for myself,” he said when asked about goals. “I just want to get this team back on the right track. The history of the Giants is great and we didn’t do that last year, so I want to get us back on the right track. That’s the main focus.

The Giants had to change their schedule in order to avoid a conflict with the Beyonce/Jay-Z concert taking place tonight at MetLife Stadium, which is adjacent to the Giants’ headquarters across the parking lot. The same will go for Friday’s practice. On Tuesday, the 7th, the practice will also be conducted in the more due to a soccer game taking place at MetLife that night. That will conclude the practices open to the public this summer.

“Yeah I think it’s good to have a change up,” said Shepard. “You kind of get used to the same routine and it kind of gets to you as a player, so switching things up was good for us. We just got to bring the energy we brought for the afternoon practices for the morning as well.”

Shepard is having a fine camp thus far, catching everything in sight and, like the other receivers, is lining up in different spots this year.

Last year, Shepard had 739 yards receiving. 639 of those were from the slot per Pro Football Focus, which was the fifth most in the NFL last year. Not bad, considering he only played in 11 games.

“That’s what I’ve been saying every time I got up here,” he said. “You kind of got to know where every position is going to be and know what to do at every position so. Not just a slot receiver, you’re going to be outside sometimes so you have to know everywhere.”

Shepard has developed a good rapport with Odell Beckham both on and off the field. On the field, you will notice the constant chatter between them. He was asked what the two talk about.

“Most of the time it’s about technique or what I was thinking on some route or what he was thinking or whatever is coming up in the script and what we’re excited for. We’re always just picking each other’s brain. I’m always picking his brain, for sure. Trying to see what he’s thinking or what he thought about whatever just happened or whatever I just did.”

Shepard enters a big year for himself with some new faces emerging in the offense, but his only focus is getting Big Blue back where they belong atop the NFC East.

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