Shep ready to take next step

Sterling Shepard rented a house in Northwest Hollywood through Airbnb the last few weeks and trained with Odell Beckham Jr. and trainer Jamal Liggin in Los Angeles.

Shepard worked out early in the mornings. Beckham started his routine shortly after. But often Shepard then would go over to Beckham’s house later for a second workout, and they’d start talking about what they’re capable of this season: everything.

“Every time we see each other, we take a second and start talking about it out of nowhere,” Shepard, 24, said with a smile, after a Hyundai NFL Youth Camp in Waldwick, N.J., on Saturday. “It could be something special. It’s just on us now to work hard and to get it done. You can’t look too far ahead, but you also know in the back of your head that you have a squad like this that can compete to win it all. So it’s just a matter of us going out and proving that to everyone else and putting in the work.”

Shepard said his work is focused on addressing two areas he feels he can improve from his rookie season: dropped passes and yards after the catch. He says he dropped only six passes his entire college career at Oklahoma, but last season Shepard dropped six for the Giants: four on 105 targets in the regular season and two on nine targets in the playoff loss in Green Bay.

Shepard delivered as a second-round pick with 65 catches and 683 yards and eight touchdown grabs as a rookie, but he’s his own harshest critic when it comes to raising his game in year two. PAT LEONARD/ DAILY NEWS

“I definitely think (I had) too many dropped balls,” Shepard said. “I came out of college and I had only dropped six balls my whole career, so that was something I felt I definitely needed to hone in on over the offseason. So I’ve been catching a lot of balls, and I also wanted to work on a lot of after-the-catch stuff. I feel like I could have gotten a lot more YAC yardage than what I did, just from the (film) review I did.”

Shepard said some of his drops came on “critical downs” and that he “was trying to get the first down more than anything, but I’ve got to catch the ball first and worry about that after.” Specifically in the playoff loss in Green Bay, Shepard and Beckham each dropped two balls, including dropped third-down and touchdown opportunities in the first half by Shepard.

Shepard, who had joined Beckham partying in Miami the Monday prior to that defeat, said the playoff disappointment isn’t the only reason the drops are driving him. But he definitely takes responsibility for it nonetheless.

“I don’t think about it that way. It bothers me that it slipped through our fingers,” Shepard said of the loss. “That (dropped passes) definitely played a role in the game, but I don’t put it solely on that.”

The Giants open training camp Thursday in East Rutherford, and Shepard said he is rested and ready to go. He vacationed in the Bahamas after OTAs, before joining Beckham in L.A. And he said his training recently was actually slightly easier than what he is accustomed to, but it’s designed to help him stay fresh for the season.

“Your body gets banged up and it was a little less on my body this year, and I feel like that’s gonna help me out in the long run,” he said.