Brian Daboll injury update on Saquon Barkley for TNF isn't fooling anyone

You've just got to love Brian Daboll trying to keep everyone on their toes - including the San Francisco 49ers defense. In Sunday's NY Giants win over the Arizona Cardinals, running back Saquon Barkley went down with a sprained ankle and he's expected to miss three weeks.

Don't tell that to Coach Dabes, though. While speaking to the media on Tuesday, Daboll said that Barkley is actually feeling a lot better and that he's not ready to rule him out for the Week 3 matchup on the road with San Francisco.

So, there's hope that Barkley - once expected to miss the games vs. the 49ers, Seahawks and Dolphins - can give things a go on Thursday night? Yeah, that's not going to happen.

Giants coach Brian Daboll is leaving the door open for Saquon Barkley to play this week

"I'm not saying that he's out yet. He's a quick healer. I'm not saying he's in or he's out. We're going to take it all the way up with him to Thursday, but he feels a lot better today. I just talked to him, so we'll see where we're at."

Brian Daboll

While Barkley feeling better is great news, come on, there's just no way the Giants can risk him worsening his ankle by coming back too soon. When No. 26 went down on Sunday, he couldn't get off the field without being helped by trainers.

He was in a ton of pain and slammed his helmet down in anger - you just knew how bad he wanted to be out there with his teammates to close out the victory. With him dealing with this sprained ankle, there's no need to rush him back four days after the injury to try and face San Francisco.

Big Blue is feeling lucky that Barkley only suffered a sprain and a serious injury was avoided. It's admirable for Daboll to have this kind of belief in the Pro Bowl running back, but again, he should be watching the TNF showdown from the sidelines. Please, don't rush Saquon back too soon. He's too valuable for this team to even think about this kind of a risk.