Saquon Barkley on preseason playing time: Put me in, Coach!
How much would Saquon Barkley like to play in the Giants' preseason opener against the Jets? This much! Credit: Brad Penner
The Giants have their preseason opener this week, and the biggest question will be who plays and for how long.
If it’s up to Saquon Barkley, it’s an easy one.
“I think you know the answer to that,” he said when asked for his preferred preseason workload. “I love football. Practice is fun and you get better every single day, but there’s nothing like going out there and playing with your teammates . . . When you actually get to go up there and go against another team, that’s the thing that you love.”
Too bad Barkley probably has little to no say in whether he will play Thursday night against the Jets.
“I mean, I’m not the coach or the GM,” he said. “So if they tell me to go play, I’m going to go out there and play at a high level and try and get better, and however many reps they want me to take. But if not, then not.”
Pat Shurmur has not said how he will deploy players in this year’s preseason opener. Last year he kept the starters — including Barkley and Eli Manning — on the field for the first two series against the Browns. With both players in their second year in the system, that blueprint may change this summer.
But no one has been told anything yet. Not even Barkley.
New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs the ball against the defense during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, NJ, on Tuesday, July 30, 2019. Practice was moved inside the field house because of a threat of lightning. Credit: Brad Penner
“You will see as much of me as Coach wants me to be out there,” he said.
Notes & quotes: The Giants made a few roster moves over the weekend, signing defensive end Terrence Fede and claiming linebacker Joey Alfieri off waivers. To make room on the 90-man roster, they placed linebacker Mark McLaurin (fractured foot) on injured reserve and waived/injured defensive end Alex Jenkins (calf).
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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