The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Barkley says he can end slump
RB says running his way again will halt funk
Saquon Barkley insisted late last season that he isn’t Superman, but the Giants’ slumping running back sounded like he wants to jump in a phone booth and change for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears.
Barkley said during an upbeat yet candid group interview that he has let outside noise get him away from being himself as a runner. He wore his hoodie pulled up while he spoke, like Odell Beckham Jr. once did in this same space.
He is in a selfdescribed ‘funk’ after the Jets humbled him for one rushing yard on 13 carries. He is averaging 2.4 yards per carry (72 rushes, 175 yards) from Week 3 in Tampa on. That’s going back even before the high right ankle sprain that sidelined him three games.
And Barkley said the way to snap out of it is to stop thinking, have fun and make people miss. The reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year even alluded to staying true to himself as people have tried to change his running style throughout his career.
“I felt like watching film — I’m not gonna say you guys (in the media) — but I allowed, I don’t know what it was, for me not to be me,” Barkley said. “And I don’t care. That’s who I am. And that’s what I’m getting back to this week. I’m gonna go out there and ball and have fun and go out there with my brothers and whatever happens, happens.
”I’m not gonna be worried about, ‘oh, if he’s hitting it too much’ or if he’s not, he’s not doing this or doing that,’ he said, repeating criticisms he’s heard of his running style. “There’s a reason why I got drafted here. There’s a reason why I’m one of the best running backs in the league. And I’m just gonna go out there and do what I do.”
Barkley could be commenting at some level on how he is being coached to run a simpler, more downhill style at times. But he did not overtly say that, and he has been a firm supporter of head coach Pat Shurmur all season, including during this sixgame losing streak.
If there are times when Barkley tries to do too much and negatively affects a running play, however, he feels there are also plenty when he’s been too quick to go down, as well.
“I think there’s times where I did too (little),“he said. “Like say if a (blocker) got beat quick, I would take what they give me, and I would just — not go down with ease, but be more focused on securing the ball and live for another down. Where there’s times when I can make that person miss
and do what I do best.
“So I’m not worried about pressing,” he continued. “I’m not worried about not (enough) or doing too much. I’m worried about going back and playing how I know I play, how I’ve played my whole life since I was a little kid. That’s a message my dad told me since I was a little kid, when people tried to change my running style in high school and middle school and so on and so on.”
He said he can’t just take what the defense gives him. It’s not in him. Just look at last year’s Bears game, when he famously jumped over thenChicago safety
Adrian Amos, who is now a Green Bay Packer.
“If the defense is on the ball and doing a really good job, and I’m just taking what they give me, I feel like I’m not trying,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing I want to get to. Yes, defenses are going to make plays. It’s the NFL. But sometimes I can make that person miss or make two guys miss and it might be so simple as making two guys miss and getting a fiveyard gain. I’m not saying make a guy miss and go 70 yards . That’s what I’m gonna try to do.”
So why has Barkley gotten away from that? He intimated that he knows why but won’t say.
“I don’t know. That’s a good question,” he said. “And if I do know the answer, that’s something for me to know and not for you guys to know. That’s for my family to know.”
Part of the reason is that opposing defensive coordinators are keying on taking Barkley away and succeeding. Barkley said opposing coaches have told him after games that their priority was to shut him down and make the Giants beat them in other ways.
NFL Network reported that was the Dallas Cowboys’ game plan two games ago, when Barkley rushed 14 times for 28 yards and made just one big play on a 65yard screen pass.
“Teams know we have Saquon,” right guard Kevin Zeitler said. “Teams know you want that guy to have the ball in his hands. So either way, it doesn’t matter, you’ve got to find a way to get it done and open it up.”
Zeitler said the Giants’ running game isn’t failing because of any one issue. He said it’s typically a lot working with a different shortcircuit every time. The entire offensive line needs to be more consistent, including the interior of left guard Will Hernandez and returning center Jon Halapio.
Shurmur said Barkley is “like everybody else” on the Giants: “he’s got to make more good plays and (fewer) bad ones.”
The head coach admitted that in the Jets game, “we anticipated running the ball more and better against the Jets, and it didn’t happen, so we threw it more and we had success doing that.”
But of course, they lost the game.