Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard has been officially diagnosed with a torn Achilles, per a club announcement. This will be a season-ender for Shepard, who has not played a complete season since 2018.
This was already an injury-riddled season for Shepard as Sunday’s game against the Cowboys was only his second since returning from a four-game absence caused by a quad injury. Shepard also missed three weeks in October due to a hamstring injury.
When he’s healthy, Shepard is a favorite target in the Giants’ offense and tends to be a reliable one. In his last full season, Shepard caught 66 balls for 872 yards (both career highs). In his rookie season (the only other season in which he’s played all 16 games), Shepard caught a career-high eight touchdown passes. Last year, despite missing four straight games early in the season, Shepard was able to match his career high for catches in a season from 2018.
So it stands to reason that his best football is still ahead of him, if he can just get and stay healthy. But, over Shephard's six seasons in the NFL, this has a been an extremely tall order for the wide receiver, with this injury putting a demonstrative period on his toughest season yet.
Tight end Evan Engram and receivers Kenny Golladay and Darius Slayton will continue to get the majority of targets with Shepard and rookie first-round pick Kadarius Toney out. Former Bengals receiver John Ross could see an increase in snaps, as well, due to those same injuries.
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