New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley suffered an ankle injury during the first quarter of Sunday's game against the rival Cowboys. Barkley was carted off the field and quickly ruled out (you can see the ugly injury here), and now he'll be week to week on the team's injury report, per NFL Media's Ian Rapoport.
The injury occurred when Barkley stepped on the foot of Dallas cornerback Jourdan Lewis on a throw from Daniel Jones. It landed him in a boot post-game, and according to Rapoport, a low-ankle sprain is the expected official diagnosis. Barkley will at least miss Week 6 with the injury, Rapoport added, but will attempt to return the following week as he undergoes further resting.
Coming into the game, the Penn State product had 52 carries for 186 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to 14 receptions for 130 yards and one touchdown. Barkley has struggled with injuries since posting remarkable statistics in each of his first two seasons despite missing three games in 2019. In Week 2 of the 2020 season, the running back suffered a torn ACL and missed the remainder of the season.
After the team's Week 1 loss to Denver, former Giants running back Tiki Barber said on WFAN, via nj.com, that Barkley "didn't look right" and that he would not play him.
"You saw the game. You watched the film. You can see he didn't look right. To me, that's not healthy. I would not play him. We've seen him be amazing, but he's not that amazing player right now. ... I know it was exciting him playing Week 1, but he was hobbled, man. You could see him at some points in the game, he's limping around, not having real confidence in that knee. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it's fatigued. He hasn't run like that in a while now."
New York picked up Barkley's fifth-year option and is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2022 campaign.
The Giants recorded their first win of the season last week
