Saquon Barkley and the NY Giants received the best possible news concerning the running back’s rehab from a torn ACL Wednesday.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that, according to sources, Barkley is on track to be ready for the beginning of the 2021 regular season, which would be 11 months after injuring his knee in a Week 2 loss last season in Chicago against the Bears.
"“I’m doing really well in rehab,” Barkley said on the AP Pro Football Podcast, earlier this offseason. “Very lucky to have a great team around me, great trainers, great doctors. Everyone has been very beneficial to me and very helpful to me. So whenever the opportunity I’m able to get back on the football field with my team, I’m definitely going to cherish that moment and I just honestly can’t wait for that day to happen soon.”"
The 2021 season will undoubtedly be a pivotal one for Barkley, who will look to prove that he can not only stay healthy, but return to his dominant pre-injury form.
Through the first three seasons of his career, Barkley missed three games due to a high-ankle sprain in 2019, and was limited for much of the remainder of that season, prior to suffering last year’s season-ending injury in the second week of the season.
Earlier this offseason, NY Giants general manager Dave Gettleman admitted that Barkley’s injury history will play a factor in just how committed the organization is to the running back chosen No. 2 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.
“Well, I think that’s part of the discussion,” Gettleman said. “And obviously we’re going to have to make a decision in the spring on whether we pick up his fifth-year option or not. You know, again, it comes back to that medical question. It’s unknown and what you have to do is get your trainer and your doctors involved and make your best decision.”
Matt Lombardo is the site expert for GMenHQ, and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday for FanSided. Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattLombardoNFL