It’ll be a sight for sore eyes in Sunday’s season opener

SAQUON Barkley has answered all the questions on the test. Now it’s time for the Giants’ beloved running back to take a new test.

In uniform.

In a game.

Running the football.

When he suits up in the Giants’ home blue for Sunday’s season opener against the

Broncos at MetLife Stadium, it will have been 357 days since the anterior cruciate ligament in Barkley’s right knee was obliterated on Sept. 20, 2020 in

Chicago.

As emotional as it’s certain to be for the 24-yearold, who is starting his fourth season, Barkley’s presence on the field cannot help but provide powerful psychological lift to his teammates, who’ve watched him grind his way back to this point for the past 11-plus months.

Sure, every player is going to be stoked to play in the season opener. But every bit of extra oomph helps, and Barkley taking handoffs from Daniel Jones, making those violent cuts and making defenders miss is sure to give his teammates goose bumps.

If any of his teammates finds himself scuffling on Sunday or sucking wind because it’s the opener and no one’s acclimated to 60 minutes of football yet, all anyone will need to do is look at Barkley and think about the uphill road he took to get back onto the field. That cannot help but make them push themselves harder.

“I’ve been thinking about just playing back on Sunday in front of fans since probably a week after my injury,’’ Barkley said Friday after practice. “Obviously, you have that little state of mind where you’re upset. You’re like, ‘Why me?’ You’re depressed and this and that, but then … you’ve got to start grinding and getting yourself back.

“I’m a big visualizer thinker, so I’ve been fantasizing of getting back on that field with my teammates and playing in there in front of fans. Obviously, last year we didn’t have fans, so whenever the opportunity does come, it’s something that I’m definitely going to cherish and never take for granted again.’’

Giants head coach Joe Judge said before Friday’s practice that Barkley “has had a good couple of days’’ of practice, adding, “I’d say his work on field has been very promising, he’s done a lot of things that we need to see.’’

Asked what it would take for Barkley not to play Sunday, Judge said, “I’d say some kind of a setback that’s unforeseen … or some kind of response to his body after practice.’’ Barkley, asked after practice if he had any sort of setback, said, “I didn’t have a setback.’’ So, all systems are go for a Giants team that has had a bad run in season openers, winning only two of them since 2010 and not winning a season opener at home since 2010. For context, that was the last year the Jets made the playoffs.

Having Barkley back on the field may be the difference for the Giants as they enter the game as home underdogs to the Broncos, who went 5-11 last season and haven’t been to the playoffs since 2015, with Peyton Manning at quarterback. “Having him out there on the field psychologically would be a big deal for the team,’’ defensive lineman Leonard Williams said Friday. “He’s a captain on the team, he’s a great player on the team and guys definitely look up to him and respect him.’’

Receiver Kenny Golladay, who was signed as free agent this past offseason, has found himself moved by Barkley’s determination to get back.

“I’ve seen the work he’s put in,’’ Golladay said. “I’ve seen, once he got back on the field, how happy he was that he was able to feel like himself again and that’s huge. Having [number] 26 out there on that football field with us is going to make a lot of peoples’ day a lot easier.

“Unless you’re a Bronco.’’

Receiver Sterling Shepard conceded that he has stolen a look or three at Barkley in practices. “You can’t help but get excited sometimes seeing him running around out there,” Shepard said. “It’s been a long road, and to see him back out there doing what he loves is ultimately what I would like to see.”

Everyone will get to see it Sunday. It should be quite a sight.

Injuries are supposed to be random, but Saquon Barkley isn’t certain his was.

Barkley is listed as questionable on the Giants’ injury report, but the stud running back is expected to play Sunday against the Broncos, completing the long road back from a torn ACL, sprained MCL and partially torn meniscus he suffered Sept. 20, 2020, against the Bears. So much of the talk around Barkley for the last year has been about what happened to him in that Week 2 game, but a crucial part of the story goes back to the criticism he faced after Week 1 and the way he internalized it for six days.

“That’s a great point,” Barkley said. “As I look back and think about that, I do think the frustration from Week 1 led me to go into Week 2 with a different mindset. That’s something I’ve talked personally about with my family and my teammates.”

Barkley’s five-year honeymoon from three years as a generational prospect at Penn State through two 1,000yard seasons with the Giants abruptly ended when he carried 15 times for six yards against the Steelers in Week 1 of 2020. A po- rous offensive line couldn’t shield him from blame by the analytics crowd, looking to bury a highly drafted running back.

And criticism of his pass-blocking shortcomings went viral during “Monday Night Football” that week, prompting Tiki Barber — a former Giants great, a friend and a CBS Sports Radio host — to suggest Barkley “might not be an everydown back” if he is going to be a “liability” on blitzes.

As much as Barkley tried to block out the noise, the hardest week of his NFL career was on his mind as he Giants faced the Bears. He took all of the adversity as a challenge.

“Last time I played the game of football, I didn’t play it in the right space of heart,” Barkley said. “It wasn’t out of love. It was kind of to show this is who I am. And I will never allow that to happen again.”

The first game of Act II of Barkley’s NFL career is here.

After months of avoiding a definitive timetable for Barkley’s return, head coach Joe Judge said before Friday’s practice that Barkley had a “promising” and “encouraging” week of practice. So what could stop him from playing? The doctors who needed to medically clear him, for one. Or ...

“Some kind of setback that’s unforeseen or some kind of response to his body after practice,” Judge said.

Two hours later, Barkley confirmed he did not suffer any setbacks. But he continued months of playing coy: Was he going to try to talk his way onto the field? How does he feel about being on a snap count to protect him from injury? Can he bounce back when the Giants have two games in a five-day span (they play at Washington on Thursday)?

“Whatever the team wants me to do, I’m down to do,” a smiling Barkley said on loop.

Barkley has played more than 80 percent of the offensive snaps when healthy during his career. There is a thought — much to the dismay of fantasy football players — that won’t be the case again.

“In terms of specific rep numbers and pitch counts, to me, it’s just more important to know that the guy is healthy,” Judge said. “If you go out there for one snap, I want to make sure you’re able to go for that one snap full speed. The volume that we play any specific player, a lot of it will be dictated by the flow of the game. I wouldn’t want to take someone into a game where we say he can only do this, and then all of a sudden you get to a point where you have to do more.”

When he finally gave an inch, Barkley acknowledged he has gone as far as practice can take him. He will never get the reassurance of getting up after a tackle to the ground.

In an eerily similar situation, Barkley again will be running behind a suspect line in Week 1. And again will be asked to pass protect against a fierce duo off the edge. But he’ll welcome the opportunity to be back.

“I wouldn’t go out there if I didn’t feel I could protect myself,” Barkley said. “Practice and the game is totally different, but I’ve been having a really good week of practice, trusting the knee and getting a feel for the run game, the pass game, pass pick-up.”