Second-year New York Giants CB Sam Beal is set to return for Big Blue’s offseason program after last year’s shoulder injury.

When the New York Giants selected CB Sam Beal in the third round of the 2018 NFL Supplemental Draft, many questioned his future professional role.

Would the Western Michigan University product be the Giants No. 2 corner behind Janoris Jenkins and Eli Apple? Could he edge out Apple for the starting job? Could he play as a slot corner, sort of the role that Grant Haley played in 2018 for the G-Men?

All of those back-and-forth questions came to halt when Beal suffered a shoulder injury at the very beginning of training camp last July. Beal still spent the year with the team and is now in a position to play a big role for the Giants in 2019.

Giants HC Pat Shurmur spoke about the young defensive back this past weekend. The second-year Giants coach praised Beal and made it known he’ll be a part of the Giants secondary this upcoming season.

“We feel like he has those skills. He is doing a really good job coming back from that shoulder surgery. He had an excellent fall in getting himself ready to go,” Shurmur said, adding that Beal should be good to go for the offseason program.

Shurmur also spoke highly of Beal last year after the injury occurred.

“Sam’s a very, very talented guy,” Shurmur said. “His movement skills are tremendous and we feel like he could compete to make our team. We felt good about him, we got a chance to visit with him, and he was available, so we committed to him.”

Beal tallied 22 total tackles, two interceptions, and one forced fumble over the course of his junior season at WMU in 2017. He should be an integral part of the Giants defensive backfield that includes Jenkins, safety Jabrill Peppers and safety Antoine Bethea.