Giants Injured Players Might Be Out of Sight but Are Definitely Not Out of Mind

Here's why head coach Joe Judge has allowed for his injured players like Saquon Barkley and Sterling Shepard to remain active around the team per league rules.

Giants head coach Joe Judge has made a conscious effort to build a strong community inside the Giants locker room whereby everyone gets a chance to contribute in some capacity.

So just because a player is on injured reserve doesn’t mean that he becomes excluded from the Giants' little family.

Judge has encouraged players who land on injured reserve to stay around the facility to participate in those activities in which NFL rules allow for such participating. In that regard, he has kept the players involved in the meetings and the evolution of the offense and defense, as well as having been able to continue building camaraderie with each individual.

Judge has also taken things a step further by having his injured players travel with the team to road games, such as was the case last weekend when he authorized receiver Sterling Shepard, running back Saquon Barkley, and safety Jabrill Peppers to make the cross-country flight.

"Everybody on our team that is in a different injury protocol is in a different position,” Judge said Wednesday. “ Saquon and Pep are captains on our team; we can count on those guys for leadership and being involved."

As for Shepard, Judge and the training staff worked things out last week to allow the receiver, who is eligible to return from injured reserve where he’s been recovering from turf toe, after this upcoming weekend’s game, to continue his rehab schedule.

“We thought it would be good for him to kind of stay with the rehab in that multi-day trip,” Judge said. “Being the fact that it was more than one day, kind of added a little bit of a different curve to it.”