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New York Giants Looking Forward to RB Saquon Barkley's Return

No decision has been made yet regarding running back Saquon Barkley's official status for Sunday's regular-season opener, but more and more signs are pointing to him being ready, which would certainly be a welcome piece of news for his teammates if it comes to fruition.

Patricia Traina

New York Giants Looking Forward to RB Saquon Barkley's Return
New York Giants Looking Forward to RB Saquon Barkley's Return /

For the most part, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones keeps his emotions to himself. 

But Jones can indeed be forgiven if he's been showing just the slightest bit of joy over the potential return of running back Saquon Barkley to the team's offense after nearly a year away due to a torn ACL.

 "Yeah, I mean he’s certainly a leader on this team and someone everyone looks to and listens to," Jones said Wednesday of the kind of lift Barkley would offer. "He’ll definitely help us out."

A fully healthy Barkley who recaptures his award-winning rookie-season form would undoubtedly do wonders for the league's 31st ranked scoring offense last season. Who wouldn't want a player in the lineup that has averaged 4.72 yards-per-carry or who's been averaging one rushing touchdown per every 29.2 carries, or who has a 73.4% catch rate on his pass targets?

Although the Giants have been bringing Barkley along slowly this summer, teammates have begun seeing the Saquon of old, in what's a very encouraging sign for an offense that desperately needs for its top playmakers to be capable of inflicting damage against opposing defenses.

"I think he’s an unbelievable athlete," Jones said. "You can tell with the ball in his hands, the way he runs routes, he’s an explosive guy and he certainly looks really good."

"I mean, Saquon’s a freakish athlete. He can make little runs turn into 60, 70, 80-yard runs for six points," added center Nick Gates. "It’s always great to have him out there. Hopefully, we can get him out there so he can compete with us."

Head coach Joe Judge told reporters that he wanted to see how Barkley came through the current week of practice (which included a padded session Wednesday) before making a final decision regarding Barkley's status for Sunday's regular-season opener against Denver.  

"There's a big part in just watching our players' bodies respond. He's no different than a lot of other guys we have right now coming off of injury that we're going to have to see if these next three days, in terms of what they can handle by load and how we think their bodies are going to respond going into Sunday," Judge said. 

"We got to make the best decision for everybody's health going into the game. Saquon’s no different than that, so we're taking that lens of player safety as we go ahead and look at all these guys for the opener.

To Jones's somewhat untrained medical eye, he's very encouraged by what he's seen from his fellow captain.

"I think he looks great," Jones said. "I think he’s done a great job following what the trainers and the doctors have told him to do. He looks good practicing. He’s practicing hard and he looks really good."

  

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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