New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley will be active versus the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday after being labeled as questionable with a neck injury, coach Brian Daboll told NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo.
“He’ll be a go,” Daboll said. “We’ll keep an eye on him, see how he’s doing, but he came in early, got treatment, checked by the medical and training (staff), so he’s ready to go.”
Barkley appeared on the Giants’ injury report on Thursday with what Daboll described as a sore neck, though the Giants coach clarified that it did not occur during practice the day before. The injury was more a result of the usual wear-and-tear that all players deal with over the course of the long NFL season, according to Daboll.
“Week 14, his neck’s a little sore, so (we) put him on the injury report,” Daboll said Friday. “I think it’s just a long season, sore, so (we’ll) see where he is today.”
Daboll said at the time that he had hope that Barkley would be able to play versus the Eagles, and Barkley was still able to participate in both Thursday and Friday’s practices, albeit in a limited capacity. And in the end the Giants decided their star running back was still healthy enough to play.
These last four games of the season will be critical for the Giants as they push to stay in the playoff picture. Facing off against the Eagles, who currently hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC, Barkley’s absence could have been especially devastating considering how much the offense relies on his production.
The 25-year-old Barkley has already surpassed the 1,000+ rushing yard mark with his 1,055 yards, and once you add in the 241 receiving yards he’s also recorded (third on the team), he accounts for close to one-third of New York’s total offensive yardage this season.
New York will be hoping a strong performance from Barkley can help them pull off the upset over their NFC East rivals.
The Giants (7-4-1) and Eagles (11-1) kick off from MetLife Stadium at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.