One day after the New York Giants saw their season end with a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, head coach Pat Shurmur was informed that he had been fired and then proceeded to address his players.
Following that address, running back Saquon Barkley did the only thing he could think to do — hit the gym and start preparing for 2020.
“Lifting already,” Barkley said at the time.
2019 represented another year of losing for Barkley, who appeared in just 13 games due to a serious high-ankle sprain that probably should have caused him to miss more time than it did. And while he did eclipse 1,000 yards for the second consecutive season, Barkley vows to make some changes this offseason in hopes of avoiding similar injuries next season.
“Try something new. What I did last year, I felt it worked,” Barkley told ESPN. “But I didn’t have the year I wanted to have — injuries had something to do with that — but I’m going to try to take it to another level. Going to be tough; turn this thing around.
“Work. Work smart. Start early. I took off last year. I’m not taking off this year.”
Even if Barkley is on vacation this offseason, he intends to keep at the grind rather than just relax.
“Work. Even if you go take a trip, work. Not just relax,” Barkley said. “Sometimes it’s good to relax your mind, but no, it’s not an all-or-nothing approach. … I’m not going to be squatting 700 pounds. Or running 40s out there. But be smart with your training. Just get to it a lot earlier than what I did last year.”
Part of this new approach and the motivation behind it has been the losing. Barkley is tired of preparing like a champion, but ended up with just a small handful of wins.
“I really want to win now. That is the mindset,” Barkley said. “You don’t train your ass off to go 5-11 or 4-12. You train your ass off to go win a championship, to compete for a championship.”
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