NY Giants’ Kyle Rudolph off PUP, Saquon Barkley misses practice

Kyle Rudolph returns for the NY Giants, but Saquon Barkley did not travel with the team for Wednesday’s practice with the Patriots 

The NY Giants will be getting a key contributor back on the field this week, as its superstar missed the first day of joint practices with the New England Patriots on Wednesday.

Veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph, sidelined since a foot injury was discovered following him signing as a free agent back in March, passed his physical and was activated from PUP list on Wednesday morning.

However, the NY Giants arrived in Foxboro without star running back Saquon Barkley, who will miss the first joint practice with the Patriots while attending to a personal matter.

Barkley has yet to take part in any full-team drills this summer as he continues to work his way back from a torn ACL suffered in Week 2 of the 202 campaign. Giants head coach Joe Judge told reporters prior to practice that the plan is to work Barkley into team drills while wearing a non-contact jersey when he returns.

Should NY Giants worry about Saquon Barkley playing Week 1?

The NY Giants have just three weeks before the regular season kicks off against the Denver Broncos, which means Barkley should have at least two weeks of practices to get knocked around by his own teammates leading up to the season opener.

As for Rudolph, in all likelihood he will be limited during these two practices, before ramping up during the final two weeks of practices.

The additional two weeks of practice following the preseason finale could be a real benefit to both Barkley and Rudolph’s chances of playing Week 1.

Matt Lombardo is FanSided’s National NFL Insider and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday. Email Matt: Matt.Lombardo@FanSided.com.