Will New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (knee) be ready for a Week 1 game against the Denver Broncos?
That is the million dollar question and head coach Joe Judge is not ready to provide an answer. At least not yet.
With more than a week remaining before the regular season opener, the Giants are keeping their options open when it comes to Barkley. They remain cautiously optimistic and intend to continue ramping him up.
“He spent some time with the trainers, strength staff, [Wednesday] we’re going to put him in practice and start building his volume more than you’ve seen the previous weeks and then we’ll see Denver week, where that takes us,” Judge said. “There won’t be a decision made on Saquon until Denver week and it’s probably not going to be Monday either guys, just to give you a heads up on that. We’re going to go ahead and see how his body responds and where he’s at.”
Judge had previously stated that Barkley needs to take some contact before playing in a live game, and that has yet to happen. But safety Logan Ryan and linebacker Blake Martinez are ready to pitch in and help out if needed.
“I think Blake has first dibs,” Ryan said with a laugh. “If the coach asks, if the CBA allows it – I don’t know what the rules are – but if it’s a padded practice or whatever, I’m sure. . . So I wouldn’t be surprised if me or Blake had to take some shots with Saquon just to get him ready if that was asked.”
Barkley will be back on the field Wednesday afternoon and will be interesting to see what sort of workload he’s actually given.
