EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Sterling Shepard on the ground, in pain, and taken off the field in a cart couldn't have been an easy sight for the New York Giants to stomach. For a few minutes or hours, there had to be some concern.
Fortunately for the Giants, the prognosis for Shepard appears to be positive. He has a sprained ankle, according to coach Ben McAdoo. Early indications were that it wasn't the dreaded high ankle sprain, but they were waiting for the swelling to subside before making any final verdict, sources told ESPN. His left foot is expected to be in a boot, but as of now it's nothing that is believed to threaten any significant portion of his season.
Shepard is one of the team's top playmakers on a unit that struggled to score points last season. The Giants can't afford to lose him before the first preseason game.
This Giants offense is built around its passing-game weapons. The idea is for wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall, Shepard and first-round tight end Evan Engram to work alongside quarterback Eli Manning in order to help hide a pedestrian offensive line and running attack. With this formula, the Giants are supposed to improve greatly on their 19.7 points average last season.
Losing Shepard for any extended period would have put a crimp in that plan. He's unequivocally their slot receiver. No player in the NFL took more snaps out of the slot last season than Shepard.
The Giants can move Beckham or several other options inside, but they don't want to play their superstar there and have him running across the middle of the field full-time. That would be a dangerous proposition and would take away the lethal threat he has become on the outside.
The Giants also have other options, such as Dwayne Harris, Tavarres King, Roger Lewis and Darius Powe. They are not as good as Shepard in the slot. They don't have that short-area quickness that makes him a perfect fit for the position.
Shepard, 24, was playing at a high level in offseason workouts. Even after recording almost 700 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie, people inside the Giants building thought he was the team's most improved player this spring. They were expecting an even better season from him in Year 2.
The 2016 second-round pick averaged 3.9 yards after the catch as a rookie. That was something he worked hard to improve this offseason. Sheppard wants that number to improve, and he concentrated on his speed and explosion.
There was a play in practice Tuesday when that was evident. Shepard caught a pass from Manning near the right hash and darted toward the sideline and then upfield. You could see the separation he created from the defender.
"I have been talking a lot about yards after catch. I feel like I could have done a better job with that last season," he said at the start of training camp. "So, going into this season, that is probably going to be one of my main focuses and that is just putting the ball in my other hand, just little stuff like that and being able to use my stiff arm."
It's not that Shepard isn't an explosive player. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.48 seconds and had a 41-inch vertical leap at the NFL combine in 2016. He's an impressive athlete and a player who strikes fear into the opposition.
As one NFL executive said on Wednesday after hearing of the injury and asking how he was doing: "He's really freaking good."
The Giants are aware. That's why they played with three receivers, one tight end and one running back on more than 90 percent of their offensive snaps last season. And they see Shepard (5-foot-10, 201 pounds) as their slot receiver, one they believe can quickly blossom into one of the league's best.
ESPN's Chris Mortensen contributed to this report.