Giants Q&A: So, how about QB Saquon Barkley?
Saquon Barkley #26 of the Giants looks on late during the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
What was the reaction of the other Giants players when Saquon Barkley started taking snaps as the emergency third-string quarterback in Sunday’s 20-12 victory over the Bears?
They were impressed.
“Saquon can do everything!” linebacker Azeez Ojulari gushed. “He’s a dog. He got the job done.”
Added fellow linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux: “I thought it was dope just seeing him back there and seeing the confidence in those guys knowing that they’re going to take over and nobody flinched. Everybody got behind them and we got together.”
The offense took it in stride, even in the unorthodox huddles. “We did what we had to do,” center Jon Feliciano said. “Credit to Saquon for gritting that out. But we were just trying to win the game.”
Besides quarterbacks Daniel Jones (ankle) and Tyrod Taylor (concussion), was anyone else injured for the Giants?
Yes. A lot of them. Eight others, in fact, came off the field at various times. Two were able to return to action (LB Jihad Ward, G Mark Glowinski), but Aaron Robinson (knee), Julian Love (concussion), Henry Mondeaux (ankle), Kenny Golladay (knee), Evan Neal (neck) and Ojulari (calf) never came back on the field after their injuries.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that many injuries in a single game,” linebacker Jaylon Smith said, “but this is arguably the last gladiator sport, so we know what we sign up for.”
The NFL’s process for identifying concussions has been under scrutiny after Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered one Thursday night. The league and the players’ union issued a joint statement on Saturday saying that “modifications to the Concussion Protocol are needed to enhance player safety.” How was Love’s concussion handled?
The safety made a tackle on a first-quarter play in which Robinson hurt his knee. While the game was stopped to address that injury, word came down from a spotter in the press box to the field to remove Love from the action. He did not appear particularly woozy or slow to get up, and it did not seem as if he had any inclination to take himself out of the game. After the officials directed him to the sideline, he was taken to the locker room for evaluation. It was determined that he indeed had suffered a concussion and he was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
How wild was that final play by the Bears?
The last-ditch play included approximately eight laterals or fumbles before safety Dane Belton finally recovered the loose ball to put a merciful end to the lunacy. “There’s no practicing for that,” Belton said. “It was like peewee football.”
Ward joked that he made two tackles on the play, both of which jarred the ball loose, and thought when the fireworks went off that the game would be over. It was not.
“I was like ‘Damn, when is this [expletive] gonna stop?’ ” he said. “I thought it was funny. They’re going to go through that play in the team meeting and I think we’re all going to laugh.”
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.
