Saquon Barkley happy to be back on the field for Giants
There was the usual kidding around, with other players pointing and asking "Who’s that?" or introducing themselves as if he were a stranger. There was even a little bit of confusion at times, too, like when he had to ask teammates where they should line up during specific drills.
"I kind of felt like a rookie again," he said.
None of that mattered, though.
Saquon Barkley was back on the field for the Giants on Monday, and that was the most important and uplifting news of the team’s training camp so far this summer. Between last September when he tore the ACL and damaged the meniscus in his right knee, and Monday morning when he was officially removed from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, Barkley served in roles as varied as cheerleader, motivational speaker, classroom instructor and occasional conditioning participant for the team. On Monday he was back in the job that suits him best.
Football player.
"This is one more step in the journey of me getting back," the running back said.
It wasn’t a huge physical leap. Barkley was limited to participating in individual drills only, so he was on the field for about half of the workout that lasted an hour and 15 minutes. When the Giants began competitive drills – seven-on-sevens and 11-on-11s – Barkley was back to being a bystander. He likely worked harder when he was on the side fields cutting through cones and garbage cans with trainers during the first two weeks of camp than he did while practicing with teammates on his first day back.
But with the season opener five weeks away, Monday seemed like the perfect time for him to shed that PUP designation and start working in earnest toward Sept. 12.
"My mindset is definitely hopeful," Barkley said of his availability for the opener, which is still uncertain. "It’s definitely better to be able to [return to] practice now than later on in camp."
The Giants will remain abundantly cautious with Barkley. Given the pace at which they have ramped up other players returning from injury or illness this camp, it seems unlikely that Barkley will be a full-time participant in the practices for a while.
"As they keep greenlighting Saquon to do more and more, we’re going to let him do more and more," Joe Judge said. "As we keep building him up, we’ll really kind of start to get his body into the volume of practice, the pace of practice of the players out there, more football drills."
Barkley had been lobbying for a return to any kind of action with the team since he reported to camp two weeks ago. On Saturday he pressed his case once again with the coaches and medical staff. This time they agreed.
"It’s time to get him moving forward," Judge said, "and as long as they say it’s safe for him to do, we’ll keep on pushing."
Barkley said the best part of being back was his interactions with teammates. He said he missed all of it, including the fight that became headline news last week. Barkley wasn’t in the middle of that melee – "I would have loved to have been part of that, but I think I made the smart decision," he said – yet he made sure when Judge disciplined the players with running and pushups that day he took part in the punishment.
"I didn’t know if I was sanctioned or not to do that," he said, smiling. "Thankfully nothing came out of that. But Coach said, ‘Line it up’ and I’m part of the team."
He has been all along, whether it was as a mentor to other running backs or as a leader and captain on the sideline for games and practices last season.
Monday just made it official.
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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