Despite the return of Saquon Barkley to practice this week for the New York Giants, his injury timetable must be handled with caution and care. The Giants’ first-round pick is not expected to suit up for this weeks game against the Jets, but interestingly, his availability for the remainder of the preseason might be in jeopardy.
Although Barkley stated that he felt “really good” in his return back to the practice field, head coach Pat Shurmur is taking his injury one day at a time. In other words, risking another injury with preseason play might not be worth it given his most recent ailment. Hamstring injuries can be tricky, as they’re easily re-strained, which is why caution is necessary for the next few weeks.
How did Saquon Barkley perform in practice for the Giants?
On Wednesday, Barkley only participated in individual drills, but it was an increase from the previous days. Running a few routes and taking part in 7-on-7 drills was as far as Shurmur was willing to push his prized running back.
Barring a setback, Barkley will likely be 100% healthy once September 9th rolls around, which is why keeping him out of the remainder of preseason is a good idea. Of course, playing time is essential for a rookie trying to adapt to the speed of an NFL game, but after ripping a 39 yard run on Saquon’s first ever carry, the new regime saw everything they needed to see to make the decision to be extremely cautious.
“Well he practiced [Wednesday] as you saw. Getting him back out there,” coach Pat Shurmur said, according to ESPN. “He’s coming back from his tweak.”
Shurmur later stated, “we’ll see” in regard to seeing the running back again in live-action before week 1.
If Barkley sits out the remainder of preseason he will bring only six professional snaps into his regular season debut. While that’s not ideal, he should be more than capable of handling a full workload with no restrictions.
“Would I feel comfortable Week 1 playing? Yeah,” said Barkley. “Obviously I would love to be out there and play as quickly as I possibly can. But that’s part of the game. … When I’m able to play I have to be 100 percent ready.”
Being overly attentive to his tweak is just a precaution moving forward, and it’s entirely justified as Penn State took similar measures to guarantee his health moving into the next week.