Saquon Barkley has officially been listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Dolphins, as he continues to nurse an ankle sprain suffered in Week 2 against the Cardinals.
Tiki believes Barkley will suit up, and that he needs to. Not just because of the stakes of Sunday’s game, with Big Blue in danger of cratering, but because of the stakes of the rest of Barkley’s career in New York.
“I hear he’s limping around and he’s got his ankle taped…Saquon Barkley better play in this game,” Tiki said. “If he doesn’t, I can’t give the Giants a chance to win.
“This team is going to start looking for who the replacement is. It’s been too many years of Saquon Barkley missing time. Missing significant time. He had a fantastic rookie season and a great season a year ago. All the time in between has been intermittent at best. Saquon needs to play this game, not only for the Giants to win, but for them to have confidence in him going forward.”
Barkley was given the franchise tag this offseason, and could meet the same fate again after this season, but Tiki believes the Giants will start pondering alternatives for next season if Barkley’s injuries continue to keep him off the field.
In the meantime, Big Blue needs Barkley desperately.
“I think there’s a feel that we will see Saquon Barkley, despite what everybody is saying,” Tiki said. “Here’s the reality…He has to play in this game. I know he has a history of injury…and he always wants to play through it. Sometimes it has hampered him, because he hasn’t looked like himself when he’s tried to play through those injuries.
“This Giants team is waffling without him. They are lost without him…the Giants are dead in the water I Saquon doesn’t play. That is just the fact of the matter. When he is healthy and he’s the guy, he is so much of their offense…last season, he was 29 percent of their offense. When he doesn’t play, nobody replaces that. They don’t do it by committee.”