Giants running back Saquon Barkley was spotted getting his ankle taped during last Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys and he said at a Thursday press conference that it’s just part of continuing to deal with the high-ankle sprain that kept him out earlier this season.
Barkley was then asked if he thought there was a point where it would be counterproductive to keep playing through his injury. Barkley said no, but that was followed by a question about taking on a high workload with an ankle injury when that workload could work against his bid for a long-term contract after the season.
Barkley, who is playing out this year on the franchise tag, said “it’s really crazy when you break it down like that” and that he tries not to think about how his willingness to play through the injury is unlikely to work in his favor when it comes time to start talking about contracts again.
“Loyalty means nothing,” Barkley said, via a transcript from the team. “Loyalty, that doesn’t mean anything. No matter how loyal, no matter how committed you are, it’s a business at the end of the day. That’s something that I’ve learned. So, for me, the way I try to handle that is to not really focus on that, try my best not to think about it. I feel like every week, I have to answer a question about it, which I get it, you guys are doing your jobs, but that’s the only time it really crosses my mind to be completely honest. Because if not, I would go insane. I would lose my mind if I was able to focus on that. So, I try to keep the main thing the main thing and continue to enjoy the process and take it one day at a time.”
Barkley has been limited in practice this week, but he expects to be on the field against the Commanders this weekend.
