One hurdle cleared, NY Giants’ Saquon Barkley Faces another Daunting Task this week

The NY Giants are going to be careful with Saquon Barkley, but he should suit up Thursday night.

After almost a full year away from football, Saquon Barkley finally returned to a football field Sunday for the NY Giants.

Barkley is still working his way back from a torn ACL injury suffered in Week 2 of 2020. He saw a limited role in Week 1 to keep him fresh and slowly work his way back to re-integrate him into the offense. It may be a bit until he’s the centerpiece of the unit again as many expected, but he’s healthy enough to play right now which is all that matters.

Everyone knows what a home run hitting threat Saquon is at full strength.

He is a terrifying threat to turn any touch into a touchdown with his god-given football talent and ability. With some better run-blocking, he may have more chances to showcase his superstar skill set.

When asked how he felt after his first game back, Saquon said he’s good.

"“How I’m feeling?” Barkley told reporters Tuesday. “I’m feeling pretty good. It felt good to get out there on Sunday. Obviously, a short week. Just trying to get my body back and get ready for Thursday night.”"

It’s good to hear from the Giants‘ team Captain that he feels good after his first game back. It remains to be seen what his workload will be this week but one could expect it to be similar to Week 1’s output with such a short turnaround of just four days to prepare, recover, and get ready again for another NFL game.

But, the fact that the NY Giants face a quick turnaround, with just four days between Sunday’s season-opening loss and Thursday’s clash with Washington could limit his workload.

Saquon isn’t one to shy away from contact and he even missed the feeling of getting hit.

"“You just miss being out there and everything that comes along with it when you don’t play football for a long time,” Barkley told reporters. “I accomplished that milestone of getting back out there. Obviously, I was upset about the loss. My mom and dad and family members made me realize that we were able to come out of the game healthy and (my) goal was to play Week 1 and I did that. Now, it goes on from there.”"

Saquon isn’t worried about his speed, strength, or explosion post-injury. It’s good to hear as these three physical intangibles are what separates him from his fellow competitors.

"“My explosiveness to me is not a problem. I feel like it’s all there still. I didn’t really give myself the opportunity or had an opportunity to break a long one, so I guess I couldn’t show that. Just got to stick with the game plan, stick with the runs, take the dirty runs. When I get the opportunity to make a big play, make the big play. That’s something I wrote down in my notes this week is obviously with coming back and knocking the rust off and getting the feel back of the game, it’s breaking tackles, getting back to what I do best and find a way to be productive and help the team.”"

The Giants are counting on Barkley to make a bigger difference in Week 2 than the week before. Ideally, he sparks a big play or two and creates some much-needed opportunities for this struggling offense.