Saquon Barkley did about as much in practice without actually practicing as a player can do on Monday.
The rookie running back spent a good deal of time on the side working with trainers and ramping up his rehab from a hamstring injury that has left him day-to-day for the past week. Barkley was doing just about everything that he would have had to do on the field, from cutting and jumping to running short burst sprints to catching footballs on the move.
While the rest of the team was going through individual and position drills, Barkley looked like he actually was working harder than they were.
"I didn't notice it," Pat Shurmur said, having been paying attention to the team and not the injured rookie, "but that was the plan."
As for the next step in that plan, Shurmur was unwilling to disclose it. Barkley may be in a holding pattern of such controlled workouts until the start of the regular season to avoid aggravation to the injury. He's unlikely to play on Friday against the Jets and almost certainly won't do so without having returned to participation in practices.
"We'll find out," Shurmur said of Barkley's immediate future. "We'll see as we go along. Let's just say he's day to day."
