Sterling Shepard took the hit, stumbled to the ground, struggled to get up and was “pretty sure” he had a concussion in the third quarter of the Giants’ Week 1 game against the Cowboys.
But the wide receiver refused to take himself out of the game, and neither the Giants nor the NFL’s independent spotters saw enough to force him to the sideline. Instead, Shepard played out the 35-17 loss. The next day he entered the concussion protocol.
“They tried to send somebody in for me, I just kind of waved them off,” Shepard said Friday, out of the protocol and cleared to return to action Sunday against the Buccaneers.