Kevin Gilbride says Jeremy Shockey's future up for grabs
BY RALPH Vacchiano
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Saturday, May 10th 2008, 9:55 PM
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Kevin Gilbride recently told Jeremy Shockey he wants him back as a featured part of his offense. But the Giants" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+Giants">Giants' offensive coordinator admitted he doesn't know if that will happen.
"It's so nebulous right now, you just have no idea," Gilbride said. "Right now he's on our team. We're planning on him being there. He'll be one of the guys that we'll look to feature and one of the guys that we'll look to depend on. Hopefully he'll be here in good spirits and ready to do the things that we know he's capable of doing. But who knows? It's certainly beyond my hands."
Gilbride wouldn't reveal the details of their conversation, but he did say he spoke to Shockey to tell him "I hope he comes back, and if he does come back I'm looking forward to working with him, and I think his coaches and teammates all feel like I do, that we'll be a better football team because he's here. I just wanted to make sure he understood that."
What Gilbride declined to answer is whether the tight end, who requested a trade before the draft, wanted to return to the Giants. Several members of the organization - players, coaches and members of the front office - have reached out to Shockey to let him know he's wanted. But Shockey has yet to publicly make his desires or intentions clear.
The Giants were offered a second- and a fifth-round pick by the Saints" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+Orleans+Saints">New Orleans Saints for Shockey, but they declined. They have not ruled out trading him, especially if the Saints were to offer a first-round pick, but they don't expect a deal to happen. Shockey, who has also demanded a new contract, has been working out on his own in Miami. He's not due back at Giants Stadium until the team's mandatory mini-camp, which begins on June 11.
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