Giants running back Saquon Barkley expressed his distaste for criticism this offseason and he hasn’t grown any more comfortable with it this summer.
Barkley’s target this time around is people who take issue with his running style. Barkley has heard criticism that he moves from side to side too much and needs to devote more of his energy to moving forward, but he made it clear at a Thursday press conference that he doesn’t agree with that critique of his game.
“I’ve been playing this position for a very long time, and by no means am I the perfect running back, and I still got so much work to do,” Barkley said. “But I know that’s been the conversation or been a thought or been a thing out there that’s said about me it, ‘He don’t know what he’s doing. He’s just dancing back there.’ I’m really kind of fed up with people who never played a position and try to speak on how I run a position. We call them All-Pros with clickers in their hand. Running back is a tough position, but it’s easy to be there and watch football and watch on tv, or even watch on watch film and stop the clicker and say, ‘Oh, he should’ve made that cut.’ There’s a lot of things that go into making that cut. There’s a lot of things like your shoulders being square. There’s a lot of things that have an impact on your vision.”
Barkley’s best response to any and all critics will be a strong performance in the regular season. Injuries and underwhelming production have wrecked his last few campaigns and no verbal volleys will be enough to counteract the picture they have painted.