Saquon Barkley ready to show everyone he's healthy, strong
Just about everyone who has seen even a snippet of Giants practices this spring and summer has come away with the same conclusion: Saquon Barkley looks great.
Even those who have watched every snap think similarly.
“He’s looked really good since the spring,” general manager Joe Schoen said this past week. “He’s quick, he’s fast, good hands. I mean, he’s been impressive.”
Coach Brian Daboll also has been lofty in his praise, calling Barkley “fantastic.”
Barkley surely appreciates those kudos and is glad to have completed a training camp and preseason that only accelerated anticipation for the 2022 regular season while providing nothing to dampen any optimism that he can return to the form that won him NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018.
But taking reps in practices and making cuts on the lawn of the Giants’ training facility is not why Barkley put in all of the work he did to fully recover from the ACL tear he suffered nearly two years ago and the ankle injuries that stunted his production in 2019 and 2021.
He hasn’t been seething with a desire to prove his doubters and critics wrong so he could have the best August of his career.
He certainly hasn’t refocused his mentality, dragged down from all the years of losing during his NFL career, just so he could enjoy this Summer of Saquon.
And he is absolutely sick of people asking him how he feels, telling them “great,” “terrific” or “better than ever,” and then seeing the skepticism in their eyes.
“The reason why I’m really so excited [for the start of the regular season] is to just go out there and start playing football, start having some success so I can really stop answering questions about my health,” he said on Thursday before the Giants were given the weekend off.
So many conversations over the past three years have revolved around what Barkley couldn’t do because of his injury limitations.
“I’m ready to put that behind me and start talking about football and what I can do,” he said. “I think I’ve done a little bit to show that [in training camp] but now I get to show it where it really counts.”
Plenty of Giants will show up Monday amped for the regular season. The electricity in the building will be palpable as game plans are devised and roles are defined with the once-far-off date of Sept. 11 that has been tied to the opener in Nashville since the NFL’s schedules were unveiled in May just a few days away.
“We’re in football season now,” Daboll said. “Besides your faith and your family, this is what’s important right now: Football . . . I think we have a good group that will be ready to go on Monday.”
Perhaps none more than Barkley.
“I know you guys asked me this question [a lot this summer] but I’m in a way better place mentally and physically,” he said in comparing himself to this point last season. “Just another whole year away from surgery. It’s about to be two years. I’m excited. I’m excited.
“I feel really good.”
Now all he has to do is go out and prove it.
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.
