Taking it slow
Judge encouraged by Saquon’s progress, but still being cautious
Joe Judge was encouraged by what he saw from Saquon Barkley in his first training camp practice on Monday. But that doesn’t mean the Giants’ star running back, working his way back from a torn ACL, is on the fast track now.
The Giants still plan on taking it slowly with Barkley. After he participated in individual drills for the second straight day Tuesday, Barkley’s workload will be scaled back during Wednesday night’s practice in front of fans at MetLife Stadium. Judge also doesn’t expect him to take part in any live team drills during the joint practices with the Browns next week in Ohio.
“Now that’s not a final deal, but I would just say based on what we know from our medical team and where he’s at in his own rehab, we’re not going to try to artificially accelerate and get him involved just because of the competitive nature spiking up,” Judge said.
For now, Judge said Barkley won’t see any “competitive drills.” On SiriusXM NFL Radio, general manager Dave Gettleman echoed his coach, saying the team has to be “smart” with how quickly it brings Barkley along.
➤ Speaking to reporters for the first time since last week’s team-wide fight, tight end Evan Engram said there were no lingering issues after the fracas, which started when running back Corey Clement was hit hard by safety Xavier McKinney. Engram then shoved safety Jabrill Peppers and fellow defensive back Logan Ryan knocked over Engram with a push in the back, sparking the melee.
“We got in the locker room and we were all laughing about it and chopping it up and talking about it,” Engram said. “It’s like little brothers fighting, literally that’s how it was. We got in the locker room and we made up and we had fun and we all talked it out and it was all good.”
➤ Left guard Shane Lemieux returned to live 11-on-11 team drills for the first time since suffering a knee injury and getting carted off the practice field on July 29. Initially, there was concern it could be a serious injury. But all Lemieux, a secondyear offensive lineman, could think about was wanting to get back on the field.
“I didn’t feel sorry for myself at all. It’s not like that,” said Lemieux, who received first-team reps, as he had before the injury. “I was worried about, ‘Crap, I didn’t get my other one-onone rep,’ or, ‘Crap, I didn’t get in the last team period.’ In my mind I was thinking, ‘I’m missing valuable opportunities to get better at this practice.’ That’s all that was going through my head.”