Yep, he heard it.
“Obviously,’ Sterling Shepard said. “It’s been everywhere.’’
Shepard is in contact fairly regularly with Daniel Jones but not this week, with Shepard’s new team, the Buccaneers, preparing to face his old team, the Giants.
Shepard now works in Tampa but he spent the first eight NFL seasons with the Giants and he was disheartened to hear that his former quarterback got benched and basically put out to pasture.
“I feel for him, man, because I know how hard the dude works, I’ve seen it first-hand and how great of a dude he is,’’ Shepard told The Post. “And he can play ball, man, he’s a good ballplayer. It’s just unfortunate this is the way this business goes sometimes. It’s good to you sometimes but sometimes it goes the other way and you got to navigate through that.’’
Jones on Friday asked for his release and the Giants honored that request, officially ending ties with him.
Eli Manning threw him the ball for Shepard’s first three years with the Giants and Jones was the passer for Shepard’s next five NFL seasons wearing Giants’ blue.
Shepard made the playoffs as a rookie in 2016 and the next time the Giants made it into the postseason, 2022, he lasted through only three games before a torn ACL ended his season.
He started only four games the next two seasons before his time with the Giants ran out.
There was so much losing for Shepard with the Giants and it continues on without him, as the Giants take a 2-8 record into Sunday’s game at MetLife Stadium.
This experience with the Buccaneers gives Shepard — respected and well-liked during his stay with the Giants — a chance to see how another organization operates.
“I feel like [the Giants] are a couple of pieces away from being a really good team,’’ Shepard said. “I think they have a lot of solid pieces there. When it comes to the culture and everything like that, I’ve gotten a chance to see the way things are done on a different hand but I think there could be maybe a little bit of work there.’’
The culture and everything like that?
“It’s just different, in so many different ways and so many different levels,’’ he said. “When it goes down to the small things, what you can do in the building as a player, the way you’re able to communicate and be hand-in-hand with the coaches, it’s just a lot of different things I kinda picked up on being there for so long. Even down to the training staff or the weight coaches and some of the different stuff that we do here, it’s a difference.
“I’m not saying the way that they do it is bad, because it’s not. It’s just different and I’ve gotten to see the other side of it.’’
Brian Daboll did not have much use for Shepard on the field in 2023 and since making the playoffs in his first year as head coach, Daboll has lost his touch, with the Giants going 8-19 the past two seasons.
“I don’t think you go from being the Coach of the Year two years ago to just being a guy that can’t get the job done,’’ Shepard said. “I don’t believe that. I wish him nothing but the best. I feel like he can be a coach that can produce wins. He’s done it before and he did it early on so I don’t think you just go away from that.’’
Shepard is reunited with Baker Mayfield, his college quarterback at Oklahoma, and has shown he has something left in the tank.
Shepard, in eight games, has 16 receptions for 166 yards and one touchdown. He also has 55 yards on seven rushing attempts.
Shepard now knows there is life after the Giants. Others in more high-profile situations have learned that as well.
Saquon Barkley is starring for the Eagles, Xavier McKinney is second in the league in interceptions for the Packers, Julian Love and Leonard Williams are starting on defense for the Seahawks.
Of all the moves that drained away talent, Shepard finds it hard to come to grips with the Giants actually letting Barkley walk out the door — directly into the arms of a division rival.
Barkley is second in the NFL in rushing with 1,137 yards.
“Has he ever shown you anything different?’’ Shepard said. “Maybe the year after his injury he came back a little bit slower but he was still getting healthy. He’s the ultimate teammate, leader and obviously his style of play and what he does on the field speaks for itself.’’
That defines a player and person that is tough to give up.
“For me, that’s what I think,’’ Shepard said, “to be completely honest.’’