New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley is out for the year with an ACL tear and will undergo surgery to repair the injury in the coming weeks.
That means a long stretch of rehab and recovery for Barkley, which also usually means some level of separation from the team.
However, head coach Joe Judge doesn’t buy that as an absolute and expressed a desire for Barkley to remain around the club while meeting with reporters on Thursday.
“As much as we can have Saquon around here, we want him,” Judge said, noting that Barkley was elected offensive captain for a reason. “He is a part of this team.”
Barkley has yet to make a public statement since suffering his injury during a Week 2 loss to the Chicago Bears, but did share a quote from Judge on his Instagram page.
“I won’t fall asleep on 26, it’s going to be a hell of a story,” Judge said on Monday.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there may be some hoops to jump through for both Barkley and the Giants, but Judge went as far as to say they’d like Barkley to have a box during games or possibly even be given a sideline pass.
How everything shakes out remains to be seen, but expect Barkley to remain present around the organization as he works his way back to the field.
