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New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley just can’t seem to get his projected gold jacket career back on track after having a record-seeing rookie season in 2018.
Injuries have robbed Barkley of valuable playing time and when he has been cleared to play, he really hasn’t been his old self.
Barkley has only been able to play in eight the Giants’ 12 games this season. He was held back early as he was still making his way back from a ACL tear that cost him most of last season, but then turned his ankle early on in the Giants’ Week 5 loss at Dallas and was lost for the next four games.
Since he retuned in Week 11, Barkley has rushed just 30 times for 120 yards and gained 63 yards on 16 receptions. This season, Barkley has not rushed for over 57 yards in only single game.
Injuries have reduced Barkley to being just another back. He has stayed mainly positive but now the realization that he many not be Saquon any longer may finally be sinking in.
“No. It’s like I said before when I first came back, it’s nagging,’ Barkley said of the ankle. “If you ever know anyone that had an ankle sprain and you go on through the season with it, it just nags here and there. That’s not the reason — I’m not going to make excuses why I haven’t been performing at a high level. I don’t believe that’s the reason.”
Well, it isn’t helping. That combined with the rehabbing knee have to be holding Barkley back. He insists the lack of productivity is not ‘wearing’ on him.
“It’s not wearing on me,” he claimed. “Obviously, I would love to be doing a lot more for my team, meaning being more productive, and you’ve got to take accountability. You’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and go back, watch film and see what you can do better, see what you did good, take it and grow from it.
“Obviously, these last couple games I haven’t been playing as well as I would like to play, especially last week with a couple drops and stuff like that. You can’t let that slow you down. My mindset is once I get to practice, get on the jugs, catch as many balls as I can and practice to make sure I catch every ball that I can. The balls that I do drop, go back and work on that. When it’s in the run game, make sure I get my footwork right so I can see it better, set up the runs better, put myself in the best position I can to be successful to my team.”
The Giants are 26th in the NFL in rushing with an average of 90.8 yards per game. Barkley says that is not a true measurement of the Giants’ running game.
“It doesn’t mean anything. You can’t look at it that way,” he said. “Whatever they’re ranked, it’s the NFL. They get paid a lot of money over there. Those coaches get paid a lot of money over there, too. Obviously, we feel like we have a great game plan. Obviously, (the Chargers are) going to do some different things that we’re going to have to adjust to. We’ve got to come ready.
“We can’t come with the mindset that, ‘Oh, they’ve been struggling in the run game, so this should be cake walk.’ No. Obviously, we know we have to establish the run game and that starts by us, that starts by establishing the line of scrimmage, dominating the line of scrimmage and me making the right reads and me finishing the runs and getting vertical and making plays when the plays are needed to be made.”
And there it is. By admission, Barkley knows the Giants have not been ‘establishing the line of scrimmage’ which has added to his dismissing returns.
Again, this offense is failing because of the front offices’ inability to build it from the inside out. They have neglected the offensive line and arena paying the ultimate price: losing football games.
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