It figures to be an emotional reunion for Sterling Shepard, who will play at MetLife Stadium on Sunday for the first time not wearing a Giants uniform.
Shepard, the 31-year-old receiver, plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers now after eight seasons with the Giants. He played in 90 games as a Giant, catching 372 pᴀsses for 4,095 yards and 23 TDs.
For the Bucs this season, Shepard has 16 receptions for a 10.4-yard average and a TD.
His former teammates and coaches know exactly what to expect from Shepard.
“Same thing you saw here — his juice, his energy, his pᴀssion to play, his dog mentality,” Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson said Friday. “He’s coming at you all day. He’s just one of those grimy players — in a good way — that is just going to fight tooth and nail every play. That’s what you love about Shep.
“Our young guys have got to be ready for this guy to come and fight you every play. This guy will not take a play off. He’s going to be extra motivated because he’s back home for his first time. He’s going to want to come up here and have a good game and be productive. It’s going to be an all-day fight with him.”
Shepard’s former receivers coach with the Giants, Mike Groh, smiled when asked about Shepard on Friday.
“It’ll probably be an emotional thing for him, being on the other sideline coming back home, where you spent a lot of time,” Groh said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Shep and all the things that he accomplished here as a Giant — the tremendous leader he was, how respected he was in this building, in this organization and locker room by the coaching staff.
“The way that he’s gone about his business and his atтιтude every day that he brings to the team, he just lifts people up. He’s an energy multiplier and obviously a tremendous player.”
Asked what it’ll be like to see a player he coached for so long, Groh said, “It’ll be compeтιтion, just like it will be for him. They’re trying to beat us. We’re trying to beat them. I’m sure I’ll see him beforehand but hopefully be able to give him a big hug afterwards.’’
Giants receiver Darius Slayton, one of Shepard’s running mates in Big Blue, praised the way his friend has played for Tampa Bay.
“I think he’s doing a great job,’’ Slayton said Friday. “He’s obviously played some good ball these past couple weeks, showing he still got some juice in the tank.’’
When the Giants opted not to re-sign Shepard, many thought he’d call it a career, not wanting to play for another team.
“Yeah, I knew he still had juice in the tank for sure, but the NFL is a young man’s game, and obviously at some point, we all will get aged out,’’ Slayton said.
Slayton said seeing Shepard on Sunday “will be like a family reunion, like seeing your cousin you haven’t seen in a long time [or] buddy you haven’t seen in a long time. I look forward to seeing him before the game and obviously during the game.”
Then Slayton added with a smile: “I hope he plays terrible.’’
