Giants coach Joe Judge on Saquon Barkley’s impressive workout: ‘I’m very pleased with where he’s at’
NEW YORK — Joe Judge didn’t accelerate Saquon Barkley’s recovery timeline based on Thursday’s impressive on-field workout, which included sprinting and jump-cutting.
But the Giants coach admitted “I’m very pleased with where [Barkley] is at” in his rehab from last fall’s surgery for a torn right ACL and partially torn meniscus.
“With all of our players, what we’re trying to do is wherever they’re at in their recovery phase, get to a point where we try to mirror practice as much as we can and see if we can build up their own mental game,” Judge said Friday. “Right now, that’s where Saquon is and a couple of players are in that mode of mirroring our practices to bring them back.”
Judge, Barkley and the Giants are taking a long-term view of Barkley’s recovery. So getting Barkley back for Week 1 of the regular season is no guarantee. The priority is to get him fully healthy and keep him that way for the long-term.
Workouts like Thursday are certainly encouraging, however, to demonstrate the strides the running back has made.
Judge said Barkley has done a good job so far of keeping his focus narrow, trusting that “those building blocks day by day” will lead to “long-term success.”
“I’m very pleased with where he’s at,” Judge said. “He’s got a great attitude, he’s shown a ton of leadership for us right now, does a tremendous job staying engaged. The important thing for guys when they’re away from the field mentally, they’ve got to stay sharp and involved in communication and the installs so when they come back they’re playing full speed.”
