The New York Giants definitely lost their best offensive weapon on Sunday when Saquon Barkley was taken out of the game with a high ankle sprain – however, the team hasn’t lost confidence, and the running game is set to continue as normal even with Barkley out for four to eight weeks with the injury, which surprisingly won’t require a surgery that would increase the recovery time.
At least, the running game will keep performing if the coaches are to believed. The staff haven’t shown a lack of confidence in the talent that the Giants have in-house, and on Friday, running backs coach Craig Johnson continued to show that confidence in the players the Giants already have.
According to Johnson, the Giants won’t need to sign a player such as Christine Michael or Jay Ajayi – the combination of Wayne Gallman and Jon Hillman will be enough.
“I think that’s confidence and I think that’s a great shout out to both guys that we saw what we had. I think our personnel people are always trying to improve your talent, but the bottom line is they looked around and they liked what they had. I think that’s a compliment to both guys and now those guys get their opportunity to prove that confidence in them by playing well this weekend,” Johnson said when asked about the reasons behind the team’s level of comfort with trusting Gallman and Hllman.
Gallman was, of course, one of the backups for Saquon Barkley last season while Hillman was recently signed from the practice squad in his rookie NFL season.
Johnson also believes that the Giants may have a good player on their hands with Hillman, despite the former Rutgers back coming off the practice squad after going undrafted.
“I think that what he’s really shown is that he’s been very good, very decisive in the run game. But the key for all running backs—can you run the ball effectively? Two, can you protect the quarterback? Three, can you run good routes? And most importantly, can you protect the football?”
“He’s been good in all four phases, so I need him, and that’s a challenge to him, to do that on Sunday,” concluded Hillman.
The game on Sunday could make or break the starting positions of both Hillman and Gallman – with Saquon Barkley out for at least four weeks, the Giants once again have a running back competition for the first time since drafting him.