Newly signed CB Sheppard wants starting job with Vikings

Only one day after signing a one-year contract with the Minnesota Vikings, cornerback Lito Sheppard began to show his confidence in having new achievements with the new team and the first part of his plan is to get the starting job.

"I definitely wanted to go in and start," Sheppard said during a conference call on Thursday. "And given this situation, the predicament, I definitely have that opportunity."

He does have the chance as both of last season’s starting cornerbacks are still recovering from injuries. Cedric Griffin tore the ACL in his left knee while playing against the New Orleans Saints for NFC championship and it remains unlikely that he could wear back his Vikings jersey in time for the start of the 2010 season. The other starter Antoine Winfield is struggling with a foot injury that caused him to miss as many as six games last season.

Sheppard spent his first seven seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and intercepted totally 18 passes during the tenure, being selected to the Pro Bowl for twice. However, he was injury-plagued in the past few years, missing five games last season while playing his first and only season with the New York Jets. Unsurprisingly, he was ruled out of the AFC title game and lost the starting job to second-year cornerback Dwight Lowery. Then in late early March, he was released by the Jets before a $10 million roster bonus was due to be paid. Even though he did not have impressive performance in recent years, he still has the favor from Vikings Coach Brad Childress, who worked as an offensive coordinator during the first four years Sheppard played for the Eagles.

Giants changed starters at DE and DT

In order to improve their defensive line after going 6-5 for this season, the New York Giants decided to have some different players at starting lineup. They demoted defensive end Osi Umenyiora and defensive tackle Fred Robbins to the second string.

Mathias Kiwanuka and Chris Canty took their job respectively and will likely start at defensive end and tackle this Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. That would be the first time since 2004 that former Pro Bowl pick Umenyiora didn't start when healthy and the first time since 2007 that Robbins was a reserve in Giants jersey.

It anyway sounds like the Giants are making their last bet to get a bit closer to the team winning the Super Bowl two years ago. They started the change from defensive line because the defense has been criticized throughout the season for not playing like the dominant unit that helped the team win two years ago.