There’s going to be a lot of change, it seems, around the Giants organization this offseason. General manager Dave Gettleman is rumored to be headed into retirement as soon as Monday, and wonder will linger whether or not head coach Joe Judge will get a third season after starting 10-23 and seemingly regressing this year.
Judge wouldn’t speak about his future – “I don’t speak in hypotheticals,” he said – nor would anyone speak to specifics, but Saquon Barkley reiterated following Sunday’s season finale that he, at least, has faith in Judge.
“I don’t make those decisions, that’s above me, but I’ve spoken in the past how I feel about Joe,” Barkley said. “I think a lot of guys came out on the team and spoke how they feel about Judge, so I’ll leave it at that. I get paid to come here and run a football and be a football player, so I don’t know all those decisions.”
Next season will be Barkley’s fifth in the organization, and he’ll enter it as part of a franchise with the worst record in the league over the last five seasons. The Giants have seemingly taken a step backwards, but Barkley said he wanted to “digest and think about it” instead of speaking off emotion in the immediate afterglow of the 2021 season finale.
But there was one common Joe Judge-ism he did agree with: it just wasn’t good enough, although not for a lack of effort.
“Obviously the season didn't go the way we would like it, but we have a lot of guys in the locker room that stepped up and played big roles for us and worked our butts off all year,” Barkley said. “I want to give those guys credit, especially guys that had to step up and play a different role that was probably not expected in the beginning of the year. Those guys in the locker room came to work every single day, worked their tails off and, obviously, the result wasn't what we wanted it to be. Really proud of those guys in the locker room.”
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Logan Ryan had one word to sum up the Giants’ 4-13 campaign: adversity.
“I don't think it met many peoples' expectations, certainly not mine,” Ryan said. “I haven't had time to recap it yet, so I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts later, but just a lot of adversity.”
Ryan added that how the team dealt with all that was their true test, and Barkley, one of the elder statesmen on the offense this season at least, saw a lot of good things from the younger players.
“If you're going to find a silver lining or something within this season, it’s the way that these guys responded. Banged up, having to step up no matter what, win, lose, or draw…Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays were the same, and that’s all you can ask from the guys as a leader,” Barkley said. “The results weren't the way we wanted it to be, but tip my hats off to a lot of those guys stepping up. That's all you can ask for, and those are the type of people you want in your locker room that's going to help in the future, get us to where we need to get. It's guys that care about each other, guys that care about winning and guys that care about going through the process to get the results right.”
Hopefully, that can also be a recruiting pitch for free agents this offseason…including those coming from within already.
“I've been a part of teams that haven't fought as hard as we do, haven't practiced as hard as we do every day. We practice hard and fight for each other, and Joe squeezes it out of us every day,” said linebacker Lorenzo Carter, a pending free agent. “It's not acceptable for us to come in and hang our heads. We come in every day and work hard no matter what, and I appreciate that. That's what it takes to win. I know the results haven't been there, but I think we've got the right guys in the locker room. We've got the right mindset.”
It may take some time for everyone to reflect before moving forward, but one thing is certain: whatever iteration of the Giants take the field next September for the 2022 season opener, there are a lot of things that will be different from the one that left the field Sunday.
“The one thing I know about the league is there's always changes; it’s inevitable in this league,” Ryan said. “That was the last game we played together with those players collectively. I'm not going to speak on anything that I don't know about, but I know that there will be change because there's always change on rosters. Some guys played their last game in the NFL today, that's always tough. Nothing's guaranteed in this league, so I’m just grateful for the opportunity to take the field with these guys. Didn't get the reward at all this year, guys put in a lot of work this year. Unfortunate it didn't go our way, but that's just how it goes sometimes.”
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