Barkley leaves game with an ankle injury
Saquon Barkley’s healthy return from a torn ACL lasted only four weeks.
Barkley turned his left ankle badly in Sunday’s first quarter when he stepped on the foot of Cowboys corner Jourdan Lewis. His ankle ballooned to the size of a softball, as shown by the FOX broadcast, and he was carted off the field and downgraded to out.
Barkley was open on a slant route while defended by fellow Penn State product Micah Parsons. But when Daniel Jones sailed his pass high and incomplete over Barkley’s head, Barkley and Lewis crossed paths and Barkley’s ankle turned awkwardly.
Barkley bumped into teammate Kadarius Toney as he fell to the turf, grabbed his ankle and hobbled off, and then was visibly upset on the bench as trainers worked on him.
Safety Jabrill Peppers, who’s out with a hamstring injury, tried to console Barkley as he pounded his legs with his fists, a visible sign of how bad Barkley himself thought it was.
Barkley, a Whitehall graduate and former Penn State star, missed most of last season with a torn right ACL and meniscus in his right knee. That happened in Week 2 at Chicago in September 2020.
Barkley rehabbed, got healthy for Week 1 of this season and exploded in the Giants’ first win at New Orleans in Week 4.
He had 126 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns, one in the fourth quarter and the game-winner in overtime, to lift the Giants over the Saints.
But now Barkley is down again. He missed 17 of the Giants’ 32 games in the 2019-2020 seasons combined, and there is no telling how long this injury will sideline one of the Giants’ most important players.