On Monday, Jeremy Shockey told The Post’s Steve Serby down in South Beach, Fla., that his no-show from the Giants’ offseason workout program was not intended as a slap at Tom Coughlin.
It was, Shockey explained, merely his own way of getting back to his University of Miami roots, to best prepare himself for a strong comeback season.
Well, Shockey has decided that enough is enough, and he is coming back, literally.
He left Florida last night and will finally emerge at Giants Stadium, no doubt pleasing Coughlin and also Eli Manning, the second-year quarterback who two weeks ago made a public plea for Shockey to find his way to New Jersey.
The emotional tight end swears he’s in top shape, a byproduct of his intense workouts with an array of past Hurricane stars.
The Giants will get a look at just how much progress Shockey has made, and also now be able to monitor the back injury that slowed him in the latter stages of last season.
This week’s return also will be the first face-to-face meeting between Shockey and Manning since Manning spoke out about Shockey’s absence, statements that irked Shockey to the point where he immediately called Manning and told him if he had a problem with anything he’d done, he should have talked to him directly about it.
Technically, the workouts at Giants Stadium are voluntary and players cannot be fined for not participating. The program is ongoing this week, but players are off the first week of May.
There is a mandatory three-day veteran mini-camp starting on June 1, a camp Shockey always planned to attend.