In early May, after offensive lineman Ereck Flowers had already skipped the start to the offseason workout program and a voluntary three-day mini-camp, New York Giants safety Landon Collins dropped a bomb.

While appearing on WFAN, Collins said Flowers was staying away from the team because he was upset over their decision to sign left tackle Nate Solder during free agency.

“It’s not that he doesn’t want to be here, he’s just really unhappy that they picked up Solder,” Collins said. “He came in last year, thought he did what he needed to do. He lost weight, was in the proper shape, thought he was playing good the first couple of games and that kinda went downhill when the season went downhill. He continued to get criticism from Day 1 when he came in. After being a first-round draft pick, you don’t want to be called a bust, you know?”

On Saturday, while preparing for the second practice of rookie mini-camp, head coach Pat Shurmur told reporters that it wasn’t Collins’ place to discuss the Flowers situation publicly.

“Yeah, that’s not for Landon to talk about,” Shurmur said bluntly. “I think the important thing is, let’s let Ereck talk for Ereck when he gets here, and we’ll worry about that later. But really, I don’t think our players should be talking about another player’s situation.”

As far as Flowers himself, Shurmur says the two have been in regular contact, that Flowers is said to be in great shape and that he’s excited to have his offensive tackle eventually report to team facilities in East Rutherford.

“We’ve been in contact with Ereck. It’s our understanding that he’s in good shape and, again, I got nothing. I can’t wait for him to be here. I’ve mentioned it in the past, there were some things that he did last year that were really good, and I look forward to him getting here at some point and working with him,” Shurmur said.

Flowers, the team’s 2015 first-round pick, has struggled early in his career and faced relentless criticism. The Giants opted not to pick up his fifth-year option earlier this month, leading Flowers to hire agent Drew Rosenhaus.

If and when Flowers does report to the Giants, he’s expected to shift to right tackle where he’ll compete with Chad Wheeler and others for the starting job.