Giants RB Saquon Barkley raring to play in meaningful game this time around
Saquon Barkley of the Giants runs the ball in the first half against the Commanders at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Saquon Barkley took exception to one of the themes being thrown around this week as the Giants get set to fight for a playoff spot Sunday: this idea that it’s been a long time since the franchise has had a meaningful game this late in the season.
Actually, he said, it was only two years ago when the Giants had a big game in early January. It’s emblazoned in his brain because Barkley, who had torn his ACL that year, could do nothing but watch from the sidelines as the Giants beat the Cowboys – staying alive just long enough to get eliminated when Washington won its own game. But though he might be right, there’s a big difference between that game then and the game against the Commanders now. First, the Giants are (mostly) masters of their own destiny. And second, Barkley doesn’t intend to do much standing around at all.
“My perspective on that is ‘try to make a change,” he said Thursday. “Try to be helpful. Try to make plays. That’s where I feel like I’ve got to get back to. I feel like I’ve been lacking the last couple of weeks – being the guy, and making explosive plays, especially when it matters most. The only thing I can do there is come here and practice, try to have the best practice I can have. And then when the games come, when the opportunity presents itself, got to capitalize on it.”
After playing only 20 snaps last week as he returned from a neck injury, and being largely contained for the past four games, there was a sense Thursday that the Commanders should prepare for Barkley unleashed. He was gregarious, energetic and, he said, had “like [his] best practice” on Wednesday.
Jaylon Smith said he took 100 yards. When someone asked Barkley if he was offered a rest day Wednesday, Barkley laughed, said no and did an excited shimmy. Coach Brian Daboll said Barkley practiced with no restrictions and Barkley himself said he felt “a lot better.”
“I feel good this week,” he said. “I had a really good practice yesterday. I feel like I had a pretty good practice today, not just for myself but the team. So, just excited about this week.”
He also sounds as if he’s on a mission. Barkley has averaged 38 yards over the last four games, and hasn’t had a run of over 27 yards since Week 5 (he did have a 21-yard run against the Commanders two weeks ago). It’s not, he said, because he’s been hurt.
“The last couple of weeks, the run game has been – I don’t want to say non-existent, but they’ve been doing a really good job of stopping the run game or necessarily, stopping me,” he said. “Obviously, that’s a focal point. And that’s going to be a focal point again this week. But just gotta continue to get back to that mentality of knowing that teams are going to try to stop us, but if I can get going, it’s going to help the team and it’s going to help put us in a position to win.”
And though Barkley said this didn’t feel like the biggest game of his career, and did, indeed, note that the Giants have played big games recently, it’s clear he’s eager to rewrite history. Or, rather, insert himself into a new chapter.
“I hated watching it on the couch,” he said about that game two years ago. “But they got it done, too. DJ [Daniel Jones] was the quarterback there, too. So, that’s kind of been the theme, ‘Oh, you guys haven’t been in these types of games before.’ But it’s like two, three years ago, we were in a type of game like this … [Now] I get to be a part of it.”
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
