NY Giants WR Sterling Shepard (12.20.20)

NYG Postgame (vs. Browns) Transcripts: WR Sterling Shepard

December 20, 2020

Q: Shep, you guys got it into the red zone several times early on, but you only come out with three points on those three drives. What did you think was going well early and what does it do for the rest of the game when you don’t get the points there?

A: Yeah, I thought we were moving the ball great, we’ve just got to capitalize whenever we get down into the red zone. You’re not going to win many games if you don’t come away with points and that’s just the bottom line, so we’ve got to capitalize when we get down there and really lock in.

Q: Hey Sterling, in total it seemed like you guys pushed it downfield a little bit more than you have in recent weeks. What was the biggest difference between [Tight Ends Coach] Freddie [Kitchens] calling plays versus [Offensive Coordinator] Jason [Garrett]?

A: No real big difference. We have our staple plays and that’s what we did. I mean, we were able to execute them and get those chances to get down and get some points. Like I said, we’ve got to do a better job with that.

Q: Sterling, you had the four-game winning streak capped by that upset win in Seattle and then these last two weeks the team has just not played the kind of football that you did during that one month of winning. How disappointing is that and is it surprising to you that it’s happened this quickly?

A: To be honest, I throw that stuff underneath the rug and I’m really focused on what we’ve got next week. We have a big challenge ahead of us and we’ve got to get our eyes on Baltimore. We’re not totally out of this thing, so we’ve got to prepare and that’s honestly where my focus is.

Q: Is there any level of disappointment just for tonight that things didn’t go better?

A: No. I mean, you have to have a short memory here, you’ve got to be able to correct what you have to correct and we have to move on, and we have to get ready for this big game that we have and this big challenge that we have going into Baltimore.

Q: Hey Shep, you said that you guys aren’t totally out of this, but how much do you see it kind of slipping away these last few weeks?

A: Like I said, my focus is on this next game. We have to control what we can control and at this point that’s what we can control is how we prepare for this next game and the attention to detail that we come to this week with.

Q: That’s four straight games now with under 20 points scored. Why is it such a struggle for you guys to score points now?

A: We’ve just got to execute. I love the fact that [Head] Coach [Joe Judge] has the confidence in us to go for those situations that we got into. We’ve just got to execute and come away with points, it’s as simple as that.

Q: Shep, what’d you think of [Quarterback] Colt [McCoy] and how hard is it for an offense when you miss a whole day of practice because of situations and then have to play with your backup quarterback?

A: Yeah, we’re not big into making excuses. I thought Colt played great. I felt like we could’ve done a better job for him making some of those tough catches, but I feel like he played great. And we’re not going to use that as an excuse that we didn’t get an extra day of practice – we used Saturday as an extra day of practice and got out there on the grass. We’ve just got to execute better.

Q: Shep, you’ve been a pretty slippery, elusive receiver in your career. Why are you guys as a group having so much trouble creating separation right now? Is it because of the run game?

A: I don’t know where people are getting that from, to be honest. Is that what you’re saying? That we’re getting, what, two yards of separation? In the NFL, that’s open. I don’t know what the analytics say, but you can go off that if you want to. I know what I see on film and for those of them who think that way, go look at the film.