Giants Injury Update: Sterling Shepard Participates in Full; Could be Cleared Soon

Giants could have all hands on deck for Monday night's home game against Dallas.

Monday night’s game against the Cowboys could very well be the first time the Giants have all their offensive skill position players available at the same time.

Receiver Sterling Shepard, who has been sidelined by a second concussion suffered in Week 5 against the Vikings, was able to participate fully in Thursday’s practice.

Shepard, who for the last two weeks has been limited to taking part in non-contact drills, would need to receive final clearance from doctors, including an independent neuro consultant, before he is fully cleared to return to action. As such, he is still in the protocol.

The return of Shepard to the lineup would be huge if he is cleared. In the four games Shepard has been sidelined, including Week 2, when he was diagnosed with his first concussion of the year, the Giants have averaged 220 receiving yards per game. With Shepard in the lineup, they’ve averaged 250.7 yards per game.

“I think it’ll help us,” said quarterback Daniel Jones, who would benefit the most from having Shepard, receiver Golden Tate, tight end Evan Engram and running back Saquon Barkley available on any given play.

“Those are all really good players. When you put them all together, there’s a lot of different things that we can do, a lot of different ways to attack. I think the guys who stepped in have played well throughout the season. But yeah, getting Shep back this week will help.”

Head coach Pat Shurmur has refused to lean on any player’s specific absence as a crutch. Still, even he has to be somewhat curious as to what this offense might look like if it has a full set of healthy skill position players available for deployment.

“Well, we’ll find out,” he said. “I think we all need to go out and play well together. Again, this is probably the first time they’ll all sort of be out there together. Our new version of things. It’s important that they go out and play, do their jobs, and try to execute.” 

In other positive injury news, rookie cornerback Corey Ballentine, who has also been int he protocol after suffering a concussion in Week 6 against the Patriots, also practiced in full. Like Shepard, Ballentine, who has been the team's kickoff returner this season, will need to be cleared by the doctors before being removed from the protocol.

Cornerback Grant Haley (knee) was listed as a full participant on Giants injury report.