Good Morning, New York Giants Fans!
The general timetable for recovery after a high ankle sprain is between 6 to 8 weeks. For the New York Giants and their superstar running back, that timetable is shortened to about three weeks.
Saquon Barkley is already running and cutting after suffering a severe ankle injury just two weeks ago. Head coach Pat Shurmur couldn’t even rule him out to play on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. In all likelihood, Barkley will look to return on Thursday night football against the New England Patriots in one week.
“I don’t know yet. I don’t know yet,” Shurmur said when asked of his availability this upcoming week.
Shurmur’s comment was most certainly a ploy to confuse the Vikings and toy with their game-plans.
If the Giants can return their best playmaker against the Patriots, that would be an ideal scenario. Facing off against the 2-2 Vikings, who present a challenge for a team that just lost their best linebacker in Ryan Connelly last week to a torn ACL, represents a make or break week for Big Blue. Losing the next two games would be devastating to their contending hopes and would put rookie passer Daniel Jones in a tight spot.
Ultimately, it comes down to execution and following the game plan to perfection. The Vikings have had issues throwing the ball downfield which gives the Giants an advantage to a degree. Jones has averaged 28 points per game since taking over against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Vikings have a defense that will not let him extend drives and will keep him honest. If he can dominate against that unit, he can certainly have success against the Patriots as well. Gaining back Barkley would be a significant factor and would allow Jones to utilize his security blanket rather than take sacks.
Nonetheless–
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