EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley has heard enough of “BS.” He’s poised to silence the critics after his production has plummeted over the past two seasons and more.
Barkley has been dealing with ankle and knee injuries since mid-2019 season. He has just 627 rushing yards and three total touchdowns in the past two years combined.
But now there is hope he is healthy and ready to thrive in coach Brian Daboll’s new offense.
“My mindset for the past two years, to be honest, I just want to kill, go crazy. I don’t want to react prematurely. There’s still a long way to go until September and we’re starting the regular season,” Barkley said Wednesday after a practice session during the team’s voluntary mini-camp.
“To be honest I’m just sick of what’s written about me, the BS that’s said about me or this team. I want to go out there and prove to this organization that the player they drafted is still there, I can still do special things with the ball in my hands and I can help this team.”
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Trouble is, it hasn’t happened often since a record-breaking rookie season. This has resulted in Barkley hearing more criticism than at any other point in his football career.
Barkley has even said in numerous interviews that when things finally turn around, those who have doubted him should stay on the other side of the table.
“One thing I’ve learned is that the story that’s being told is made by people the way they want it to be,” he said. “I feel like a lot of things are being left out.”
But the bottom line is that it’s been a tough couple of seasons. Barkley was neither healthy nor productive.
So why “BS”?
“It’s not just that, to be perfectly honest. The level of productivity, it’s just — I don’t want to go into too much detail of what’s being said,” Barkley said. “If I get into that, you probably know who I’m talking about. So, I’m just going to say that I’m just sick of BS. I just want to get out there, play the game I love and have fun with my teammates.”
It helps that Barkley doesn’t pick up a serious knee injury like he did last offseason. He tore the ACL in his right knee in the 2020 season and was not fully cleared until late summer of last year.
That is not the case this year. The ankle, which he injured last season stepping on the ankle of a Dallas defender, has been fine for quite some time.
“I definitely feel a lot different, a lot better. I feel like myself again,” Barkley said. “Obviously I don’t want to rush things, I just want to focus on the little things and get better every day. No matter what happens to injuries for the rest of your career, every offseason is going to be some sort of rehab or prehabbing so you don’t get injured.”
This offseason, there has been talk of Barkley being traded. General Manager Joe Schoen had left the option open at the NFL Scouting Combine.
But Schoen has insisted he hasn’t shopped for the 25-year-old, who is running back, even though he has taken some calls. Schoen and Daboll even called Barkley from the combine to make it clear that his move wasn’t a priority.
“First I worked out and when I got home my phone blew up. I thought, ‘What the hell?’ At first I thought I was being traded, but in today’s world you never know,” Barkley said. “But when I looked it up and saw it, I didn’t really take it that way, to be completely honest with you. That’s his job. He should do whatever he believes can help this team win and this organization win. That’s his job. When I saw the response, I really didn’t take it like, “Oh damn, he wants rid of me or the Giants want to trade me.”
“To be honest I felt like it was more word of mouth, the media creates some kind of story. I didn’t really take it that way, to be perfectly honest.”
And now he’s focused on getting better every day and silencing those critics. Because they are now louder than ever.