Giants veterans Sterling Shepard, Cole Beasley hoping to catch on in crowded receiver group
Giants receiver Sterling Shepard catches a pass in East Rutherford on Monday, August 14, 2023. Credit: Ed Murray
The competition at wide receiver has been highly competitive at Giants training camp.
There are 13 receivers listed on the current roster, including Wan’Dale Robinson, who is on the physically unable to perform list.
The locks to make the roster include Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins, Parris Campbell and rookie Jalin Hyatt.
Sterling Shepard has seemed confident in his chances. It would be a great achievement if Shepard persevered after back-to-back season ending injuries.
Veterans Cole Beasley, Jamison Crowder and Collin Johnson are also among the crowded group.
Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was asked about Crowder and Beasley in particular.
“I think as a player, being a former player, all you really want is an opportunity,” Kafka said. “So, with the preseason, training camp, kind of the whole scope of [a] body of work, that’s really what goes on through the evaluation process. Then you get into the preseason games, and you get the opportunity to do it in front of our fans and in front of the whole organization.”
The 5-8, 174-pound Beasley entered the league in 2012. His 556 receptions are the eighth-highest total by an undrafted player in NFL history. Beasley played 10 snaps in the first preseason game against the Lions at Ford Field. He finished with four receptions.
He couldn’t remember the last time he made that many catches in a preseason game. But, when you’re trying to make a roster that’s what, even a veteran, has to do.
Kafka, when asked about Shepard, said: “Shep’s continuing to put together really good days of work. He’s growing within the system. He’s doing a good job with his rehab and prehab and running around.”
Shoring up the punt coverage
The fact that the Giants had only 10 men on the field was the real problem on the punt return that the Lions’ Maurice Alexander returned 95 yards for a touchdown last week.
Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey lamented that not everyone was on the same page, including some rookies who had never had special teams responsibilities before. That figures to be cleaned up for the home preseason opener on Friday night against the Panthers.
The lighter side
The Giants practiced inside on Wednesday. It was a lighter workout. Early in the session, during the special teams period, safety Xavier McKinney jumped into drills – non-contact drills – with the defensive linemen.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
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