Saquon Barkley Glad to Be a Part of Giants' Resurgence

Saquon Barkley is not only having fun running the ball again, he's enjoying the winning that has come with it.

After a full offseason of doubt, Saquon Barkley has spent the beginning of the 2022 season proving to Giants fans that he is one of the elite backs in the NFL. 

Through six games, he has proven just that. He proved that he is still a home run hitter from anywhere on the field. He has proven that he can make defenders miss anywhere, even in a phone booth. 

And if that wasn't enough, the final proof is his ability to carry the load even if he doesn't have the numbers to show for it.

This week against the Baltimore Ravens, Barkley carried the ball 22 times for 83 yards and a touchdown. He also showed alertness on his final carry of the game when he had a chance to score from a couple of yards out but, in the interest of ensuring the Ravens offense never touched the ball again in the game, Barkley gave himself up at the 2-yard line after securing the first down.

This is who Barkley has always been: a team player rather than a guy obsessed with padding his stats, especially in a contract year.

"I know fantasy fans are going to be a little upset about that, but I’ve got a job to do, and that’s to do whatever I can to help my team win a football game," Barkley said.

"Anytime you can make a play that can secure a victory, you got to do that. It’s a credit to the coaches and obviously, (quarterback Daniel Jones) DJ within the huddle making sure we all knew that and we were able to do that."

Barkley said that his heads-up play was one the team had practiced before, just in case it came up.

"The run before that, we have a call that alerts us," he said. "Our coaches do a really good job not only in that situation but throughout the week. We practice all those situations. The run before that, I feel like if I wanted to, I could have went this way and kind of scored, but I was focused on protecting the ball. 

"I ran up to (head coach Brian Daboll) and was making sure, 'We’re not scoring here, right?' And he told me, 'Yeah.' Did a spin move, had an opportunity, and just got down." Barkley said, adding that he knew once he got the first down, the victory was in the bag.  

But for fantasy football owners who lamented the lost points, Barkley and his teammates made sure that when it was of the utmost importance for the team to put points on the board--such as when they were down by 10 points--they did just that. 

"Go score. That’s the only thing we had in our mindset – go respond. That’s the first thing that we said," he said. "There was no panic within this team at all. Not only the offense but also the defense and special teams--great complementary football. Everyone out there is making plays, feeding off each other, vibing off each other, and I think we’ve been showing that so far in the season, and we got to continue to do that."

That vibe is why this team has performed differently than Giants teams of the recent past. Barkley thinks that trust is what makes this team different from those under the previous coaching regime.

"I mean, it’s a different team, in my opinion. Every year is a new year. We have a lot of the same guys, but every year is a new year with a new coaching staff. To answer what’s different – just the trust that we have in each other, the love that we have for each other. 

"We’re all competitive guys who go out there and just play for each other. We find a way to win these games. It’s been like this in the past. Obviously, we came out of it on the wrong side of it a lot of times, but now we’re finding a way to win games. That’s a testament to the coaches and all those guys in the locker room."

There's something about a victory or a loss that can have a snowball effect on a team in the NFL. The momentum, positive or negative, can really drive the confidence of the players and the organization as a whole. Barkley feels like that may have been the case in the past, and while he is not dwelling on the past, it is something that he remembers vividly.

"You go to Week 1, we played a heck of a game, and they went out there and missed a field goal. Special teams did a great job, and they missed a field goal. I don’t want to talk too much about prior, but the year prior to that, we’re playing the Commanders, and they say we jumped offsides. Obviously, there’s controversy or whatever," Barkley said in discussing one of the many close games that went against the Giants in the past. 

"They missed a field goal, they get another opportunity, and they make that field goal. You get that one, stuff like that can help change the team. When you continue to get that confidence, every week you go out there like no matter what the score is, you’re going to find a way to win games, especially when you have the type of guys that we have in our locker room and the coaches that we have."

Barkley has always wanted to be a part of the Giants' turnaround, and he finally has the impact he probably envisioned when they took him four years ago. Barkley talked about the home environment and how it compares to what it has been like over the last couple of years.

There’s a point in time...(when) the stadium was jumping. The stadium was so loud you could feel the energy from the fans, and it wasn’t always necessarily like that in the first couple of years," Barkley recalled. 

"We weren’t doing a good job of going out there and winning games. Obviously, we are doing that now. It’s New York City. We got some of the greatest fans from New York and New Jersey. I want to go out there and give them something to be proud of. I feel like this team has been doing that, and we got to continue to do that."

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