Saquon Barkley walked back some of the pessimism his comments earlier this week seemed to indicate, saying this on Thursday afternoon:
"We're 2-8, but it doesn't feel like we're 2-8, to be completely honest. The way we're practicing - we're fast, there's still joy. It's not like you walk in the building, 'I'm 2-8, my life is miserable.'"
Great, but given the state of the Giants, and his previous comments, Boomer had a thought:
“I'm not advocating faking anything or any of that stuff, but if he has any little thing – a tweak to the ankle, the knee, the shoulder, I’m not playing,” Boomer said Friday. “It’s not worth it. I know he wants to play, but he’s still very young and in his prime, and he still has another contract to sign. The question is whether or not the Giants will do it – but any sort of issue, I’m not playing.”
“I mean, he is making $10 million this year. I know that it's not like 40 million, but he's still making $10 million,” Gio replied. “If he could play, he should be playing.”
That said, Gio gets the idea.
“If you’re Saquon, especially in this situation…the team's not really playing for much and you've got a quarterback who is a rookie undrafted guy that's gonna lean on you for just about any offensive production that you're gonna be able to muster,” Gregg said.
“He should be playing, but if there’s any sort of injury, it’s not worth it for him. He's got to protect himself and he's got to protect his future,” Boomer said, “because if they're gonna end up giving him the ball 25 to 35 times, the risk of injury just goes up exponentially. You just got to protect yourself, you know?”
Gio then asked Boomer if agreed with Lamar Jackson, and believed some of the rumors last year that he wasn't playing through injury because he didn't have a contract…and the response was one word:
“Yes.”
“That’s a tough thing for fans to hear,” Gio replied, but as Boomer said: “He had to protect his future.”