Saquon Barkley injury: Giants running back out 2-3 weeks, per report

Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants will reportedly miss 2-3 weeks with the sprained right ankle he suffered Sunday night against the Arizona Cardinals.

Barkley was injured on the Giants’ game-winning drive when he got bent over in a pile while carrying the ball up the middle.

Coach Brian Daboll spoke to media Monday before test results were complete.

“Whatever it is we’ll have a plan ready to go,” Daboll said. “If he can play, he can play and if he can’t then we’ll have the other guys prepared and ready to go.”

Those “other guys” who will now have to play are Matt Breida, Eric Gray and Gary Brightwell. Breida, two snaps with one carry, was the only other running back to play on offense Sunday.

Barkley is playing the 2023 season on a modified franchise tag that includes performance-based incentives he will almost certainly not reach now. Missing time with yet another leg injury will affect the Giants short-term, and could affect Barkley’s market value next offseason. Barkley could become a free agent, but the Giants can once again apply the franchise tag.

Daboll is taking a wait-and-see attitude with all of the Giants’ injured players, largely because the Giants will conduct only walk-thru practices this week in preparation for Thursday’s game.

Aside from Barkley, the major concerns are left tackle Andrew Thomas (hamstring) and left guard Ben Bredeson (concussion protocol).

“All of them we will kind of take right up to game time and see where we’re at,” Daboll said.