Spags: Big Blue set for big bounce-back
Steve Spagnuolo remembers meeting Saquon Barkley for the first time.
“I was down in Orlando, Florida, watching some D-linemen, a friend of mine was working guys out for the draft,” Spagnuolo, the former Giants defensive coordinator and interim head coach, told The Post during a visit to Jets training camp Wednesday. “And this young gentleman walked up to me, good-looking, stud-looking kid, and he was just asking questions about the NFL. I didn’t know who I was talking to. But in my mind, I’m going, ‘Boy, this is a great kid, this guy really gets it, he’s passionate about what he’s doing.’ And then somebody walked over and said, ‘Hey Saquon.’ I realized then I was talking to Saquon Barkley. I’m expecting him to do really well.”
And Eli Manning and the Giants as well.
“I think they’re gonna bounce back and be fine,” said Spagnuolo, who coached the Giants’ final four games last season after Ben McAdoo was fired.
“Eli’s got some weapons. He can hand the ball off to somebody that’s a quality running back and I do think they’ll be better on defense just because of the injury thing, guys are healthy. … Janoris Jenkins played with a high ankle sprain for most of the year, and so did Landon Collins.
“I think Eli’s got a lot of football left.”
Spagnuolo hired new Giants coach Pat Shurmur as his offensive coordinator when he was head coach of the Rams.
“Pat’s a good teacher. He’s a good man,” Spagnuolo said.
Spagnuolo is recharging the bat- teries in his first year away from football in more than four decades in the sport. He will commiserate with defensive coordinators losing sleep over game-planning for Barkley and Odell Beckham Jr.
“If you’re Saquon Barkley and you’re coming in the NFL, it’s pretty good to be with a team that has a wideout like that, right?” Spagnuolo said.
And with an upgraded offensive line.
“I don’t know a lot of the offensive linemen, but I like what [general manager] Dave [Gettleman] did there,” Spagnuolo said.
He recalled beating the Redskins at the end of the nightmare 3-13 season with a special pride.
“I would tell the Giants fans that I’m always gonna have a little bit of blue in my blood — that’s never gonna change,” Spagnuolo said.