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During Thursday’s practice, New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard shook cornerback Corey Ballentine, hauled in a pass off the arm of quarterback Daniel Jones and held onto the ball through a collision with defensive back Julian Love.
First down.
Shepard jumped back up to celebrate, tossing the ball some 30 yards before the fun came to an end.
First-year head coach Joe Judge immediately called out to Shepard, making him retrieve the ball and then walk it back to him at mid-field where a conversation ensued.
Penalty.
“It would have been a 15-yard penalty in a game, and that’s what he told me,” Shepard said. “I thought about it, and that is true. When you make a big play at practice, you tend to do stuff that you might not do in a real game. Sometimes emotions get high in a game. Yeah, I need to think about those things before I do them.”
How you practice is how you play, and Judge wants to ensure his players aren’t making foolish and costly mistakes in a game that counts.
It’s another example of little details turning into big lessons for Judge’s Giants.
“You have to take coaching in every way, shape and form,” Shepard said. “I need somebody to stay on me. You can be a 10-year vet and think you have everything figured out, but you really don’t. It keeps you grounded. I appreciate having a coach like Coach Judge.”
For Judge, there is no hesitancy — his big stars will not receive preferential treatment.
“That’s not something that we’re going to accept from any player on the team,” Judge said. “It’s a learning lesson that he’s got to take and go forward. But it’s important that everybody else learns from that same lesson that we don’t have to repeat the mistake.”
Another day, another Joe Judge lesson in the books.
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