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NORTH CALDWELL, NJ – New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley’s right knee is feeling “pretty good” after ACL surgery last year, but there is still uncertainty over what Barkley will do in camp. training and if he will be ready for week 1.
Barkley said it wasn’t a conversation he had with coach Joe Judge. Quarterbacks and injured and rehab players are due to report to camp Thursday, with rookies reporting on Wednesday.
“I don’t know. We’ll see,” Barkley said with a smile at his annual Saquon Barkley football ProCamp at West Essex High School, when asked if he expected to be full at the start of the season. camp.
What about week 1?
“I don’t know. We’ll see,” he repeated. “Take it day to day. Just listen to my body. Whenever I can go out just make sure I’m 110%. Not just for… my well-being, but just to get out there and compete at one. high level and show the world who Saquon is. “
Barkley isn’t expected to be full out for the start of training camp, a source told ESPN last month.
The running back was moving well and even faced off against some of the 200 kids, grades 1 through 8, in attendance Monday for individual exercises. There seemed to be no restriction.
That was sort of the plan.
“I’m a big kid at heart,” Barkley said. “We were talking about whatever I could do. I said I was just going to go with the flow. I said my kid at heart would probably take over. Just have fun. And that means a lot. I am. just glad these kids came out. I thank the families for bringing these kids out. I want to make sure I leave a lasting impression. “
Barkley was part of a group of preseason and varsity football coaches working with children. His implication was evident, despite the rehabilitation of the injury.
Barkley and the Giants have been hesitant to set a timeline for his comeback since getting injured in Week 2 of last season.
The Giants open the regular season against the Denver Broncos on September 12, nearly 11 months after Barkley’s major right knee surgery. He also had lesions of the MCL and the meniscus.
Barkley, 24, seems okay with playing it safe.
“I kind of have to play that by ear,” Barkley said of his expectations. “When it comes to rehab, rehab is never a straight line. Just play it by ear. Listen to your body, and whatever your body tells you, go for it.”
The Giants aren’t going to put Barkley on the court in real life situations until he’s 100 percent, and it might not be until October.
“We are going to make sure that we follow Saquon’s rehabilitation at the right pace for his body and his injuries,” Judge said at the minicamp last month. “It’s not a mirror of someone else’s injury. We have to make sure we let him go at his pace and put him on the pitch. [when he] can play 100% aggressive and confident and he will play it safe and he can play effectively. “
The idea is to bring Barkley up slowly to make sure he’s healthy for the duration of the 17-game season and, hopefully for the Giants, the playoffs. It might be short-sighted for Barkley to take his usual 85% snaps in Week 1 against the Broncos or in the first few games.
Returning Barkley to his rookie form and use in the first weeks of the 2021 season has never been realistic, although the damage to his knee has healed as expected, sources insisted.
Now it is about going to the field to train. Or, more precisely, knowing when it will happen.
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