New York Giants star running back Saquon Barkley has reportedly been ruled out for the team’s Week 5 game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Saquon Barkley is a super-human, there’s no question about it. On Wednesday, 10 days after he suffered a high ankle sprain in Tampa Bay, the second-year pro was seen running, jumping, and making cuts just fine at practice. The New York Giants and their head coach Pat Shurmur initially wouldn’t rule him out for Sunday’s game.
However, it’s now being reported that Barkley indeed won’t be able to play in Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings.
Saquon Barkley is OUT for Sunday’s game vs Vikings
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) October 4, 2019
Playing Barkley against Minnesota would essentially be rushing him back onto the field. That’s the last thing the Giants should be doing. They can’t afford for him to re-injure that ankle in possibly a larger way.
It was first reported that Barkley would be out 4-8 weeks, retroactive to when he injured the ankle in the team’s Week 3 win. However, it was then reported that the star running back would be eyeing a Week 6 return. Therefore, that Thursday night game against the New England Patriots could still be a possibility for him to get back onto the field.
Regardless of when he’s able to return, Barkley is still excited to get back onto the practice field.
“It feels good to get back out there with my teammates,” he said, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN. “We’ve been having a great week of practice. Just got to continue to get better. Got one more day to attack it on the field to prepare ourselves best for the Vikings.”
The Giants will play host to the Vikings this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET. Wayne Gallman will once again be the No. 1 back in Barkley’s absence.
