Giants Saquon Barkley Lauds Internal Processes That's Producing Success

The Giants are 4-1, and no, that's not a fluke, says running back Saquon Barkley.
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The New York Giants, under new head coach Brian Daboll, are now 4-1 through the first five weeks of the season, matching their win total from just a season ago.

It's a great start for the team from which not much was expected, but it's only the beginning, according to running back Saquon Barkley.

“Yeah, it's a great start. 4-1. It’s where you want to be," Barkley said after the Giants topped the Packers. "But you can't get too caught up in it; you've just got to keep working, and there's a reason why we're 4-1, and that's because of the process."

Despite coming into the game with a 3-1 record, there were a lot of naysayers in the NFL world about the Giants and the opponents they faced thus far. Even after beating the Packers, Barkley says this isn’t a statement to the league but rather more of a victory for the locker room and the organization as a whole.

“I don't think it's any statement to the league. To be completely honest, it's the NFL. Every time you go against somebody, this isn't college. It isn't like you're playing at Penn State and going against your Week 1 team who is someone you should beat by 40," he said. 

"It's the NFL, and it's hard to win in this league. For us, we can't even focus on that. If anyone wants to take us seriously or not, the main thing we got to focus on is the interior, inside our building, continue to love the process and continue to get better, and continue to lean on each other and find ways to get wins.”

This was a game where it took everybody on the offense to will the team to victory. With many injuries, especially at wide receiver, the Giants had to look to names that wouldn’t usually be called upon. 

Wide receiver Darius Slayton, buried on the depth chart heading into the season, stepped up big with six receptions for 79 yards. Receiver Marcus Johnson, a practice squad elevation, had three catches for 35 yards, including a huge 16-yard catch for a first down.

 Another name that saw offensive snaps was second-year running back Gary Brightwell, who scored his first NFL touchdown to tie the game at 20.

A big reason why the Giants have been so successful this early on in the season is that they are being coached well. Giants teams in the past likely would not have competed in this type of game against the Packers. The Giants somehow always found ways to lose in recent years, and it seems the script has been flipped, with them now finding any possible way to win.

“Obviously, just a standard, the culture, the coaches. But to be completely honest, what I believe has changed is we are finding ways to win games," Barkley said. "There's been a lot of times throughout my career that we've been in a situation in the past in the first couple of games, and we always end up on the wrong side of it. We are finding a way to end up on the right side of it. That’s just all because of the process. 

"All because of the way that we come to work. All because we have guys that love to be coached the way our coaches coach. Everybody from all the way up to the top of the building to training staff to being in the lunchroom, equipment guys, everybody. We got a really good thing going in the facility, and we've just got to keep building on it.”


   

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Andrew Parsaud
ANDREW PARSAUD

Andrew Parsaud is currently attending Penn State, where he is studying digital journalism and media. He is an avid follower of the major New York sports teams.