Saquon Barkley vs. Giants: Here’s how RB is handling pressure of facing old team, friends

PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley let the pressure get to him once before. He swore it would never happen again. 

Coming off the worst performance of his career, Barkley had an embarrassing 15 carries for 6 yards in Week 1 of the 2020 season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then with the New York Giants, Barkley heard all the vitriol coming from the media-crazed city that is New York. 

Bad things were being said about the New York Giants‘ best offensive player. Barkley was motivated by the hate, fueled by it. He is human after all. 

“I made it about so much more, and I was out there trying to prove everyone wrong,” Barkley said. “I kind of wanted that ‘FU’ moment.”

The next game against the Chicago Bears, Barkley tore his ACL on the eighth offensive snap. He missed the rest of the season and averaged 4.0 yards per carry in the three seasons since. The Giants offensive line played a role in that lack of production, but Barkley ran behind the same offensive line the previous three years. 

Barkley wasn’t the same after that ACL injury. He knew it. 

“God works in mysterious ways,” Barkley said. “It definitely humbled me, and I don’t want that to happen again.”

There’s a reason why Barkley isn’t trying to get vengeance against the Giants. If there is any bad blood between Barkley and the Giants, he’s not going to play his hand. Barkley is still close with plenty of players on the Giants and doesn’t have any animosity toward the organization that gave him his shot at stardom.

This is a big week for Barkley, but he’s not going to let his emotions get the best of him. Any negative energy Barkley has inside, he’s turning into a positive. 

“That’s the challenge of trying to do that. I’m trying my best to make sure that it doesn’t impact me in a negative way,” Barkley said. “If anything, try to use it to lift me up. Let my competitive spirit drive me, go out there and keep the main thing the main thing, and that’s to win football games, and also go out there and play with my teammates, play with my guys. 

“This week, I’m just going to have some guys on the other side of the ball, too. So it’s going to make it more fun, to talk a little bit more crap about me.”

Barkley learned the hard way four years ago, a mistake he won’t make again.