Saquon Barkley: Upon further review, I wasn't 'soft'
Saquon Barkley #26 of the Giants runs the ball in the fourth quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field on October 23, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. Credit: Getty Images/Mike Carlson
Saquon Barkley took issue Thursday with the person who called some of his early runs against the Jaguars “soft.”
The difference between that criticism and others he has heard throughout his career? This one came from himself.
After the game, Barkley was unusually hard on his performance and described some of his efforts with that less-than-glowing term. A few days of reflection and watching film made him change his mind.
“I think maybe I jumped a little to a conclusion when I talked to you guys after the game,” he said. “It’s never really as good as you think and it’s never really as bad as you think. It was more just having a slow start. Obviously, I was able to pick it up, but I’ve just got to be better. That's it. Just go back to trusting the alignments, trusting the reads, getting downhill, being instinctive and making plays.”
Barkley had 108 rushing yards on 24 carries in the game but had only 66 on 18 carries before the final offensive drive.
While the “soft” label was rescinded, Barkley did admit to having some subconscious hesitation because of a shoulder injury he suffered in Week 5 and has played through (although he has had to leave each of the last three games at times after aggravating it).
“That’s just the nature of it any time you’re dealing with something,” he said. “You’re never really out there thinking about it. But when you go back and look back on film, it’s similar to, for instance, when I had my knee [issue]. Last year, especially in the first couple of games, I never was out there like, ‘Dang, my knee doesn’t feel good.’ It was never like that. But I would go back and look at film and see myself make a jump or a cut and I wouldn’t stick that right leg out there like I used to. It’s more like that.”
Barkley leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage this season. There’s been nothing soft about that.
Notes & quotes: Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale praised the “competitive endurance” of the Giants for withstanding a potential game-winning Jaguars drive that ended at the 1 with time expiring. “I told the defense that we’ve never used that many situational calls in just one game by itself,” Martindale said. “We’ve used them throughout the years, but you might not see us in those types of situations again for another two years.” . . . The only change to the Giants’ injury report from Wednesday to Thursday was the removal of WR Kadarius Toney after he was traded to Kansas City.TE Daniel Bellinger (eye), OL Evan Neal (knee), OL Ben Bredeson (knee), WR Kenny Golladay (knee), DB Cor’Dale Flott (calf) and LB Oshane Ximines (quadriceps) did not practice and are expected to be out at least through the bye.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
