Why Joe Judge wants Saquon Barkley to get hit in practice before Giants running back sees game action

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Before he plays, Saquon Barkley needs to get popped.

So says Joe Judge, who believes the running back returning from a torn ACL must have a chance to absorb contact at something close to a live tempo before he is thrown onto the field in a regular-season situation.

"I would absolutely say that contact at some point is absolutely necessary," Judge said on Wednesday prior to the team’s joint practice against the Patriots. "We’ll decide what kind of contact it is and what kind of controlled drill we will put him through, what we’ll allow him to do. But before I put him out there in live contact and just say ‘Godspeed’ we want to make sure this guy is prepared. My number one priority is his health."

When and from whom that practice pummeling will come remains to be seen as the Giants are running out of options in both categories.

Nearly a month into the preseason it has yet to occur. So far he has been relegated to open space route running and walk-through paced handoffs since passing his physical and coming off PUP on Aug. 9. Barkley was not at Wednesday’s practice, excused for personal reasons Judge said, and he was expected to rejoin the team Wednesday night. Judge said Barkley is scheduled to practice Thursday against the Patriots, but he will be wearing a red non-contact jersey while doing going through drills against the opponent.

"The most important part is for him to get out here and get football movement, reactional movement against an opponent," Judge said of the goals for Thursday. "He hasn’t seen 7-on-7, hasn’t seen 11-on-11, these are things we have to build up with him."

Judge said he has spoken with the Patriots coaches about giving Barkley a wide berth during those drills.

The next chance for Barkley to get hit would be Sunday’s preseason finale against the Patriots. It seems unlikely the Giants will play him then, even though it will be the last opportunity to face another team before the Giants play the Broncos on Sept. 12.

That leaves the Giants themselves to deliver the crash test hits on Barkley in the two weeks of practice following Sunday’s preseason finale if he is going to be ready for the opener. That would likely come in the form of thumping not-to-the-ground hits from veteran defenders such as Blake Martinez or Logan Ryan who will give Barkley the simulation of a tackle without all of the associated risks.

"I think every player has to have physical contact and experience the hits they are going to take in advance before it becomes live and full speed in the regular season," Judge said. "For us to put a player on the field without preparing him either through practice or preseason games without contact, we’re putting that player in danger and doing him a disservice."

And of course Barkley has to respond positively to those activities. So far he has not had any setbacks while remaining patient and sticking with the timeline provided by the medical staff.

Judge said the Giants have had "lengthy" meetings about Barkley’s status with the coaching and medical staffs, including a recent one that went for over an hour discussing just how they planned to incorporate Barkley into these elements of the game. Judge, it is clear, votes for him not playing until he has taken enough lumps to prove he is ready.

"I know a lot of people want to put their head in a box and pretend it doesn’t happen, the reality is that when you go out there against Denver, Washington and Atlanta, those are live bullets," Judge said. "They’re flying around and trying to hit our players as hard as they can, as we are to them, make good form tackles, and end the play. The best thing you can do for the players is prepare them for what they are going to see by putting them in controlled situations, experience the technique, let your body get used to the contact that is going to happen in a game, and then build on that."

If the Giants can figure out how to do that between now and Sept. 12, Barkley will likely be ready to go in the opener. If not, his status will remain up in the air until he is ready to be taken to the ground.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

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.