Saquon Barkley sends a message by deleting all his Instagram posts except 1 of Kobe

It could be a while until we see Saquon Barkley back on the field for the New York Giants.

On Sunday, he left the team’s Week 2 loss to the Chicago Bears after a play that left him clutching his knee in agony. Reports including from USA TODAY Network’s Art Stapleton say the team is worried it’s a torn ACL that would end his 2020 season.

There’s no official word as of Monday around 11 a.m. Eastern as to what the injury is (UPDATE: It’s a torn ACL, and he’s out for the season), but Barkley has made a statement of sorts.

He deleted all but one of his Instagram posts. The one he left? It’s his tribute to Kobe Bryant from January.

Saquon deleted all of his IG posts except for one. A picture of Kobe.#MambaMentality pic.twitter.com/DubGIbupiy

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 21, 2020

View this post on Instagram

My father never allowed me to idolized any man… but Kobe is someone who I idolize and has helped me become the person I am today and the man I hope to be! #mambamentality🐍 #forever

A post shared by Saquon Barkley (@saquon) on Jan 26, 2020 at 11:54am PST

What could it mean? It could be that he’s inspired by Bryant and the “Mamba Menality” the late superstar brought when it came to rehabbing injuries, helping him get through what could be a very long year.