The New York Giants' Week 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was devastating on multiple fronts. Aside from it being a divisional loss and the team's second-straight overall, it was the Cam Skattebo injury that made things that much harder to handle.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart was one of the key points of emphasis following the injury, as his reaction was maybe the toughest one to watch. But, the entire team was gutted over Skattebo as evidenced by the whole sideline coming out and taking a knee immediately following the rookie going down.
After the game, fellow running back Tyrone Tracy spoke with reporters and peeled back the curtain a little bit on what the injury did to the team, emotionally:
"At this point, after he got hurt, you know he's the one actually yelling from the cart, 'Let's f***ing go. Let's do this!' and you know, for us, like we're just trying to do the best we can for Skat. Because his energy is infectious."
Tyrone Tracy is taking Cam Skattebo's injury and using it as fuel going forward
Tracy would go on to talk about that very energy the team gets from Skattebo and noted that, essentially, he wants to play for his teammate, going forward.
"With him, being hurt and being injured, I'm trying to do everything I can do make sure I'm doing it for him," he said.
Coming from the guy who saw Skattebo take his starting job, those words are pretty powerful. They say a lot about who Tracy is as a person, and Giants fans can relish in the idea that the second-year pro is going to put forth all of his effort to try and fill the gap as best he can -- and do it for "Skat."
It was also heartwarming to hear that Skattebo was the one yelling from the cart, trying to motivate his teammates as he was being taken off the field. That's a pure example of the energy Tracy referred to. For a rookie to have so much impact, so early, is special. This Giants team certainly felt the loss yesterday, but as Tracy said, they'll use it going forward.
As for Tracy, he'll try and showcase just why he was able to take the starting job as a rookie, himself, last year. His dual-threat skill set as a former receiver will absolutely come into play, especially with the Giants' injuries at the wide receiver position (namely, Malik Nabers).
Hopefully, this injury will be spun forward in a positive way like Tracy hinted, and the Giants can unite and string some W's together for their fallen teammate.