WORST NEWS FOR GIANTS
Barkley lost for season with ACL tear
An MRI confirmed the Giants’ worst fears Monday: Saquon Barkley tore the ACL in his right knee in Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears and is out for the season. “I know from working out with him over the summer that he was really looking forward to this season after the ankle injuries last year, so I’m definitely praying for him,” strong safety Jabrill Peppers said Monday. “But he’s gonna bounce back better than ever: minor setback for a major comeback.”
Barkley clearly was prepared for the devastating diagnosis, scrubbing his Instagram account late Sunday of all posts but one: a Jan. 26 tribute to the late Kobe Bryant.
The message appeared to be that Barkley plans to channel Bryant’s famed “Mamba Mentality” in attacking his rehab by outworking the next man and dominating the task at hand.
“My father never allowed me to idolize 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,” Barkley wrote in January after Bryant’s tragic death in a helicopter crash.
In fact, sources confirmed an NFL Network report that Barkley not only tore his ACL but also partially tore his meniscus and strained his MCL, meaning surgery is likely 2-to-4 weeks away to allow swelling to go down.
Bears safety Eddie Jackson, who tackled Barkley on Sunday’s fateful second-quarter play, said he felt awful about the Giant back’s season-ending injury.
“Prayers out to @saquon I never play this game to seriously injure someone,” Jackson tweeted.
The Giants have to move on, though. So they are bringing in former Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman for a visit and workout today, according to a source.
“We ’ r e exploring all options right now,” coach Joe Judge said.
Freeman, 28, had visited with the Eagles over the weekend. So on Monday, he went through the Giants’ regular COVID-19 testing
protocol. And today, the plan is for Freeman to take a point-ofcontact test prior to his visit and workout, which could bring a free agent with almost 4,000 career rushing yards into the fold.
Dion Lewis, Wayne Gallman and Eli Penny are the only healthy running backs on the Giants’ active roster, and they have Rod Smith on their practice squad. Freeman played only two games for Atlanta in 2018 due to foot, knee and groin issues, and has a concussion history. But he played in 14 games in his final Falcons season and is a legitimate back when available.
While the Giants tried to move on, though, it was still natural to dwell on the devastation of Barkley’s injury as well wishes poured in on social media from the likes of Barry Sanders and the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.
“Thinking of @saquon today and sending him and his family my prayers,” Sanders tweeted.
“The only thing I was able to share with Saquon, some of my own experiences, I was a non-athlete and I tore my ACL and I was able to get back on the field,” Judge said. “It didn’t really affect the way anyone saw my play because I wasn’t very good to begin with (laughs). But this is a young guy who’s very physically gifted … And I won’t fall asleep on 26. It’s gonna be a hell of a story.”
Judge added that the Giants are going to “miss having him on the grass” but insisted “we’re gonna keep him involved as much as we can” as he rehabilitates to get healthy for 2021. He said many players he has spoken to feel just as bad for Barkley personally as the coach does.
Golden Tate, meanwhile, said the Giants’ healthy players can’t afford to wallow too long about Barkley or Sterling Shepard, who reportedly could be out at least a couple weeks with turf toe.
“We can’t get caught in the ‘well, if Saquon was back there, what would have happened?’ Or ‘If Shep was back there…’,” Tate said. “The reality is, unfortunately — and we’re crushed that we don’t have these guys right now — next man up is going to step out.”
Judge, meanwhile, said that while NFL coaches had major concerns about players’ health coming off this compromised offseason, he did think that had anything to do with Barkley’s injury.
“There’s a lot of injuries that conditioning has absolutely nothing to do with,” Judge said. “What Saquon went through (Sunday), that’s just something that happens. That doesn’t have anything to do with conditioning or how hard he trained or anything to do with that. That’s just an injury that sometimes happens, it’s very unfortunate to everyone involved.
“But the soft tissue stuff are the things you really have to look out for, the pulls, some of the tears of the hamstrings, the quads, the Achilles, things along those lines,” the coach said of injuries to keep an eye on in this coronavirus-impacted season. “We were very careful with our players throughout training camp to make sure we build up their tolerance and get their bodies’ endurance ready for the rigors of a season but more importantly get them ready to recover from game one to game two. So that’s something we put a lot of focus on with how we trained our guys in practice.”
The harsh reality now is that Barkley, nevertheless, is not coming back until at least 2021. Judge had no doubt, though, that the running back would do everything in his power to come back just as strong next season.
“He’s done for the year,” Judge said. “Everybody’s unique in these situations. Everybody’s body recovers differently. I would say this: his body is in a phenomenal spot that he’s gonna be able to recover very well with the treatment they’ll give him. That being said, I don’t know what his body’s gonna go through. No one does. I just know this guy is committed, he’s gonna work really hard and do everything he can to get back.”