New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley has been struggling since returning four weeks early from a high ankle sprain, but he’s sick and tired of having that futility attributed to the injury.
For several weeks now, Barkley has pooh-poohed the notion that he’s being held back due to injury, instead shouldering the blame for an entire offense — exactly what a captain should do.
But Barkley’s patience with injury-related questions grew thin on Wednesday, with the defiant running back chiding reporters for keeping at it.
“Did I look hurt? No. So let’s stop making an excuse that I’m hurt. I’m not hurt!” Barkley said. “Let’s stop making an excuse I’m not 100 percent. Nobody is 100 percent.
“I can pull up multiple clips, multiple clips, where you can look back and see I’m doing the same thing that I did in college or that I did in my first year. The season is not going the way I’d like it. I’m not going to put blame on anyone else.”
Barkley has taken his struggles to heart and he is determined to get through them and prove to the world he’s still the greatest running back in football.
“You have to point fingers at yourself first. You have to be better. I have to be better. I’m going to keep working,” Barkley said. “I put in my notes today: ‘The great ones figure it out.’ And I want to be great. I’m going to figure it out.”
At this point, we may as well give Barkley what he wants and drop the injury excuse. So, plain and simple, he’s not playing well, is creating even more problems for the offense and deserves to shoulder the blame he absorbs anyway.
Simply put? Barkley is playing terribly and needs to get better. Fast.
