Will Saquon Barkley play for the New York Giants against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday? That’s one of the biggest questions facing the team, and there’s still no answer even after Barkley returned to practice as a full participant. So far since the injury, Barkley and the team have wanted to go in different directions in terms of recovery time – Barkley has obviously wanted to get back onto the field as soon as possible, while the Giants kept Barkley out of the Vikings and Patriots games to avoid another injury.
With a 2-4 record, it doesn’t look like the Giants have enough on the line at the moment to risk their franchise player by bringing him back early, after all. However, that’s not stopping Barkley from speaking about his desire to get back onto the field.
“No doubt in my mind,” Barkley told reporters on Thursday when asked about whether his ankle would be good enough to hold up for a full game against the Cardinals on Sunday.
“I know that, obviously, even if I want to be out there as much as I can, it’s ultimately really not up to me. It’s going to be up to the team doctors and the trainers and coaches. I know that I feel confident enough that whatever they need my role, my responsibility, to be, I’m going to be able to do it for the team,” Barkley continued.
The team hasn’t yet made a ruling on whether or not Barkley will play in this game. His status for now is day to day, although with Barkley becoming a full participant in practice this week, it seems much likelier for there to be a comeback this week than last week.
“Last week, I was taking reps individually and I was running routes. But it’s different when you actually have to react and make cuts going against the scout team and going against the defense. So, that’s the biggest difference, I’m actually practicing this week and I get to actually feel making those cuts and preparing myself for the game,” Barkley said on the subject of his improvement between weeks.
Facing the last place team in the NFC West, the Giants have a good chance to bounce back somewhat and get a win, putting them within one more win of getting back to an even record. They’ll need a running game to do that, though, which makes it all the more important that Barkley gets back on the field soon.
Regardless, the days are running out until the game, and we’ll see soon enough just how much the team is willing to risk to get an advantage here.