The New York Giants won their first game of the season with an amazing effort from Rookie QB Daniel Jones. Jones lived up to the hype and exceeded it ten fold.
That was the good news!
The bad news coming out of East Rutherford today: The Giants were going to be without second year sensation running back Saquon Barkley for the next four to eight weeks with a high ankle sprain. The injury occurred during the second quarter against Tampa.
With Barkley out of the lineup, Wayne Gallman and the other backs will have the opportunity now to show they are not just Saquon’s side kicks. Pat Shurmur noted earlier today that he has plenty of confidence in Wayne and the other backs.
“Well, we’re just gong to have to see, first off” Said Shurmur. “We certainly believe in Wayne Gallman and we certainly believe that he’ll be able to step in and do his very best, and we’ll just have to see. At some point, we may have to add a running back behind him as we go forward here. But it’s like any injury, it’s very unfortunate to have Saquon out of the lineup. We all know what he brings to the team, but it’s going to fall on all of us to move forward and do what we can to win games.”
Barkley has not made any public statements as of yet but the team has many options. Wayne Gallman has been on the roster since 2017 but we also have Rod Smith who came over from the cowboys during the off season as well.
“I’m sort of on record as saying it’s very important that, number one, they’re able to run with the football and gain yardage. I think it’s also super important that they’re able to understand pass protection and who to block with regard to protecting the quarterback”
Evan Engram echoed a the same message that came for Coach Shurmur earlier in the day. They will miss Barkley, but next man up.
“It’s simple, we just have to make plays. We are going to get opportunities. A lot of guys are going to have to step up, like I said, and we just have to get it done. Coach is going to do a good job at game planning, putting Wayne in good spots, and putting other guys in different positions to be successful. At the end of the day, we just have to make plays when they come to us and just continue to build off yesterday. “
We will have more updates on Saquon as the week progresses.
