Sterling Shepard left Sunday’s game with what was then believed to be a serious lower-body non-contact injury. Ian Rapoport has now confirmed that the New York Giants wide receiver has suffered a torn Achilles. This injury will bring an end to the young wide receiver’s 2021 NFL season and possibly more. A sad end to a disappointing season for a player that entered the year with high expectations and aspirations.
Giants announce that Sterling Shepard’s Achilles is torn. Out for the season. https://t.co/g18vJtO5bI
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 19, 2021
New York Giants Wide Receiver Sterling Shepard Suffers Torn Achilles
Sterling Shepard entered the season expecting to be a key contributor to a playoff team. He showed flashes during the preseason, and many assumed it was a sign of things to come. Instead, Shepard struggled to stay healthy for parts of the season. This statistic is even worse when you consider he has not played a full season since 2018. Shepard has also missed 13 games since the beginning of the 2019 season.
On the season, Sterling Shepard recorded 34 receptions for 351 yards and one touchdown. He also registered one rushing attempt for negative nine yards. Shepard finishes the season with his second-highest catch rate at 72.3%. He also has not scored a touchdown since Week 1 of the 2021 season.
There is a real possibility that this injury sidelines Shepard for the entire 2022 season. The recovery time for an injury like this is typically around 12 months. The best-case scenario is Shepard returning at the end of the 2022 season. By that point, New York may already be out of the postseason hunt. If that were the case, then Giants very may well not bother bringing him back for a few meaningless games. There are cases of NFL players returning earlier than 12 months, so technically anything else is possible. But regardless, it is going to be a long time before we see Shepard on a football field again.
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