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After several days of avoiding the media, a gloomy Saquon Barkley sat at a desk and conducted a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday. The New York Giants running back was uncharacteristically monotone and blunt.
Perhaps it was the line of questioning. Perhaps it’s frustration over injuries. Or perhaps it’s simply the toll taken when you lose year after year, but Barkley seemed like a defeated man.
“No,” Barkley said when asked if he’s considered shutting it down for the season.
“Yeah,” Barkley said when asked if he wasn’t at practice as part of a maintenance day.
On Sunday, Barkley will return to the scene of his torn ACL in 2020 — Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears. Will he take a moment to reflect or go to the spot in an effort to find closure?
“No,” Barkley said.
The only time Barkley showed any emotion or offered any substance on Wednesday was when he was asked about his future with the Giants. Has he given any thought to the possibility that these could be his final weeks? Has he considered playing elsewhere?
“No, I don’t (think about it). I can’t control those things. I can’t control those. I can’t have that thought process,” Barkley said. “My thought process is come in every single day and try to be a leader I can for the team and try to get better physically, mentally and all the above. Like I said, with these last two games, especially coming up with Chicago, try to finish on a high note and play for each other.”
Asked more specifically if he wants to return to the Giants in 2022 and beyond, Barkley went back to being blunt and direct.
“Yeah, I’ve answered that before,” Barkley said.
And so ended the most bland, unemotional, NPC-like press conference of Barkley’s career. And it all occurred without anyone asking him if he’d like to burn down Soldier Field.
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