Sep 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll looks on as New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (26) is helped off the field during the second half of the game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
NFL: New York Giants at Arizona Cardinals
(Glendale, AZ) – Following the teams’ dramatic come-from-behind win over the Cardinals on Sunday, Giants’ fans thoughts immediately turned to star running back Saquon Barkley, who injured his ankle in the games’ closing moments.
Barkley appeared to have gotten caught up in a pile of defenders and blockers, rolling up his right ankle.
X-rays taken after the game reportedly didn’t show any fractures. There’s also hope Barkley may have avoided the dreaded high-ankle sprain, which is almost more like a shin injury, and takes longer to heal.
If indeed Barkley is dealing with a more standard ankle sprain, he could be able to return after a couple of weeks. Still, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to play on short rest, as the Giants travel to take on the San Francisco 49ers this Thursday.
But if Big Blue is able to get a healthy Barkley back sometime around week 4 or 5, it could go a long way to keeping their season on the rails – something that came dangerously close to going the other way when New York trailed Arizona by multiple scores before mounting their comeback.
Meanwhile, the Giants are dealing with injury concerns along their offensive line as well, most notably with standout left tackle Andrew Thomas out with a hamstring injury. The team had held out some hope he’d be able to go against Arizona, so it’s not a foregone conclusion he won’t play Thursday – although the safe bet is he won’t be back until the October 2 Monday Night Football tilt at home with the Seattle Seahawks, at the earliest.
It’s worth mentioning that after committing a false start penalty on the Giants’ first offensive play of the game, fill-in Josh Ezedu largely held his own at LT.
Guard Ben Bredeson also had to leave Sunday’s contest with a concussion, and was replaced by Mark Glowinski. Given the short turnaround, Bredeson may not make it out of concussion protocol before TNF.
