While images of Saquon Barkley’s swollen ankle circulated around the country just moments after the star running back stepped on the foot of Dallas Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis, causing his ankle to roll, the very real possibility of a lengthy absence was once again facing the New York Giants.
Those worries quickly subsided, luckily, later on Sunday night after multiple reports indicated that Barkley had not suffered a season-ending broken bone or injury in the area.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport added that the injury is believed to be a low-ankle sprain that could hold him out on a week-to-week basis.
The injury issues remain concerning, as this incident cropped up just five games into Barkley’s return from a torn ACL that held him out of the final 14 games of the 2020 season. Two seasons ago, Barkley missed three games due to a severe high-ankle sprain.
Barkley has built the reputation of pushing the limits of his rehabilitation to return to the field sooner than expected, but the Giants will go be careful with how they handle this latest knock.
“I care about the welfare and health of the player,” Giants head coach Joe Judge said. “We’ll do the best thing by him. If he is ready to go out and play, he’ll get out there and play. If there is something we have to do to make sure we get him back to health over the course of time, we’ll do that for him, as well.”
Barkley’s injury was just one of numerous injury blows sustained by the Giants in their blowout loss against the Cowboys. Quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a concussion in the second quarter while No. 1 wide receiver Kenny Golladay encountered a knee injury that held him out of the second half.
This all comes for a team that was already without their top tackler in linebacker, Blake Martinez, along with offensive linemen in Andrew Thomas, Shane Lemieux, and Nick Gates, and wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton.
