The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Welcome back: Giants’ Barkley, Pats’ Newton return to practice
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — The final day of joint practices between the Giants and Patriots featured the return of two stars hoping to be on the field when their teams begin the regular season.
Giants running back Saquon Barkley participated in 7-on-7 drills Thursday for the first time this preseason, getting reps with the first team early in practice before joining the training staff for individual conditioning.
Wearing a noncontact jersey and working against only light resistance from the defense, he caught one pass — a short dump-off in the flat from Daniel Jones, trotting into the end zone. He also caught a few passes during a two-minute drill.
Still, they were the biggest steps to date in Barkley’s nineplus months of rehabilitation from surgery on the torn ACL he suffered in his right knee during New York’s second game of last season.
“It felt good,” Barkley said. “I feels good to be with the team. It feels good to get a couple of team reps. It’s just fun to be able to play football again. I feel like a little kid. And just taking it day by day.”
Patriots quarterback Cam Newton also returned to practice for the first time since what coach Bill Belichick called a “misunderstanding” of NFL COVID-19 protocols. It required Newton to sit out a mandatory five-day waiting period for unvaccinated players after he attended an out-of-town doctor’s appointment over the weekend.
It stunted what had been a week in which the veteran had been trending toward securing the starting job.
It’s left open the door for rookie Mac Jones to perhaps overtake him with Sunday’s exhibition finale against New York this weekend remaining before New England’s Week 1 opener against Miami.
Giants coach Joe Judge reiterated Thursday the plan right now is for Barkley to continue re-acclimating his body to football and slowly ramp up his workload. He said earlier this week that no player will be cleared to play until they experience live tackling, whether in exhibition games or simulated in practice.
“I definitely want to get hit again,” Barkley said. “But to me it’s not just the hitting. It’s just playing football. So even though I only took two reps and a couple in 7-on-7, those reps are so valuable right now and is going to help me in the long run.”
There’s still time for Barkley to get some live contact.
“I’d say there’s enough time to get a lot of things accomplished,” Judge said. “The medical team will play a large part in where everybody is available for specific parts, but as we build in (Barkley has) consistently ramped up every week, increased his volume, increased his load.
“We’ll see how he handles that and go forward tomorrow.”
Jones took the first-team reps with Newton out Wednesday and had probably his best day of camp.
Newton responded with a solid day Thursday, but Belichick said before practice he was no closer to naming his starter to begin the season.