Giants say Barkley day-to-day with ankle injury

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants are considering running back Saquon Barkley day-to-day as he tries to get back from an ankle injury in time for Monday night’s matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.

Barkley missed Thursday night’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers with the injury, which he described to the Amazon broadcast as a high ankle sprain. He is not practicing Tuesday as the Giants begin on-field preparations for the Seahawks.

“We’re doing kind of a jog-through. So don’t think he’ll do much [Tuesday],” coach Brian Daboll said. “But he’s really now in the day-to-day category.”

Left tackle Andrew Thomas is also feeling better, according to Daboll. He appears likely to make his return after missing the past two games with a hamstring injury. Left tackle Ben Bredeson has also made significant progress and is expected to clear the concussion protocol later this week, barring a setback.

That would give the Giants the left side of their offensive line back against a Seahawks defense that has allowed just 79.3 yards per game on the ground this season.

Thomas and Bredeson will have to make it through a padded practice on Thursday, but things seems to be trending in the right direction.

“I think good,” Thomas said of his chances of returning this week. “Still working every day. This week practice and I get to actually hit somebody and see how I’m really feeling. But I’m feeling optimistic.”

Barkley suffered the injury late last Sunday when his right ankle got caught in the bottom of a pile against the Arizona Cardinals. The standout running back made “considerable progress” last week while the Giants remained in Arizona. Daboll even noted he’s a fast healer.

The original timeline for Barkley had him missing three games. That included this week against Seattle and the following week on the road against the Miami Dolphins.

“Feels a lot better [Tuesday],” Daboll said. “But we’ll kind of take that all the way throughout the week and see how he improves.”

The Giants (1-2) rely heavily on Barkley when he’s healthy. He played an NFL-high 80.2% of the team’s running back snaps last season. He was on the field for 65 of 67 offensive snaps (97%) against the Cardinals before getting injured on the second-to-last offensive play.

This isn’t the first time Barkley has dealt with an ankle injury. He missed three games in 2019 with a right ankle injury and four games in 2021 with a left ankle injury. Both times Barkley came back and struggled, averaging less than 50 yards rushing per game in the next four contests. In retrospect, he admitted his return might have been too soon.

This is what the Giants and Barkley’s personal team must weigh as he pushes to get back into the lineup. His personality always has him wanting to play, but they must make sure he doesn’t come back too early so that it’s detrimental to the team and player.

There are still 14 games remaining in the season.

“To me, I think every injury is different even though it’s the same body part,” Daboll said. “Let him rehab. Let him get with the trainers. Get a feel for where he’s at. Let’s talk to the trainers and see where they’re at with his injury and then make the decision when it comes time to make the decision.

“He’s getting better. We’ll see how it goes.”