The New York Giants benched and subsequently released quarterback Daniel Jones this week, which has thrust the current regime back into the spotlight. It has also led to former players making subtle comments about the team’s culture, including current Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard.
Shortly after Jones’ release went public on Friday, Shepard offered encouraging words for his former teammate while also addressing general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.
“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,” Shepard told the New York Post. “It’s just different, in so many different ways and so many different levels
“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.”
Shepard chose his words carefully but his message was clear. The Giants are lacking in several key areas and it has a lot to do with the current leadership and the culture they’ve ushered in.
“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,” Shepard added.
Shepard spent the first eight years of his NFL career with the Giants and was a committed company man. He never spoke negatively about the franchise, its leadership structure, or his teammates. Now just six months into his tenure with another team, Shepard is seeing how things are handled “differently” outside of East Rutherford.
Like safety Xavier McKinney and running back Saquon Barkley before him, Shepard is delivering a very clear message in the most respectful of ways.
