EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The New York Giants want sixth-round draft pick Corey Ballentine to take as long as he needs to get full closure after the shooting incident that wounded him and killed Washburn University teammate Dwane Simmons last weekend.
Speaking Friday after the completion of the first day of a rookie minicamp, Giants coach Pat Shurmur said Ballentine needs to take care of himself before joining the team, adding the NFL club will help him any way it can.
Ballentine and Simmons were shot Saturday at an off-campus party at the Topeka, Kansas, school, just hours after Ballentine was drafted.
Shurmur disclosed Friday Ballentine was shot in the buttocks. He was treated and released from a hospital on Sunday.
“It was very unfortunate, he was the victim of a crime,” Shurmur said. “That can happen to any of us. We’re here for him, certainly with what he is going through with the vigils and funeral, and the things he has to go through. We are here to support him as he comes back to us. We’re just here for him.”
A funeral for Simmons of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, is scheduled for Saturday.
Shurmur called Ballentine a great young man who he got to know through the draft process. He added the defensive back trained with his son, Kyle, a Vanderbilt quarterback, at the same facility.
Shurmur said he has not seen Ballentine since the shooting. The Giants told the cornerback to skip the current minicamp which ends on Saturday. The next time the rookies will be here would a week from Monday.
“This is a unique situation,” Shurmur said. “We want him to get full closure on this and we’re sensitive to that. This is a real-life situation. We want him to make sure he gets full closeure. It’s May. We play in September. We want to sure he gets done on that end what he needs to and he gets the help that he need.”
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