Reports: Giants Running Back Saquon Barkley Tears ACL Against Chicago

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley reportedly sustained a torn ACL Sunday, though coach Joe Judge said he hopes for a more positive diagnosis.

Barkley, New York's third-year back, was carted off the field Sunday after sustaining the injury in the first half of a 17-13 loss to Chicago. After the game, ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that the Giants feared the diagnosis was an ACL tear.

#Giants RB Saquon Barkley suffered an ACL tear, based on the manual tests and initial diagnosis, source said. He’ll have an MRI to tell the full story, but the belief is the star is done for the season. Coach Joe Judge said they are holding out hope.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 20, 2020

The injury occurred on a second-down play in which he took a hop-step after being hit and planted hard on his right knee as he was being tackled to the sideline. Barkley stayed down in pain, was helped off the field and taken to the locker room for X-rays, according to the Giants. The team said he would undergo further evaluation Monday.

Saquon Barkley was carted off after suffering a knee injury

Other notable injuries today:
🔹 Nick Bosa carted off with knee injury.

🔹 Parris Campbell carted off with knee injury.

🔹 Drew Lock in locker room with shoulder injury.pic.twitter.com/Uc1CG2AHX8
— PFF (@PFF) September 20, 2020

The former Penn State running back has avoided serious injury during his college and professional career, missing time with the Nittany Lions and the Giants with ankle sprains.

Barkley's third NFL season has been difficult. He gained just 6 yards rushing in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week One. Barkley then said he would use comments by former Giants running back Tiki Barber about his blocking ability as motivation this week.

"To be completely honest, the reason it doesn't bother me is, no disrespect to anyone on this call or anyone outside this, but when I say I don't care, I truly don't care about other people's opinions," Barkley said last week. "I know, you can ask my teammates, you can ask anyone in this building, they won't question my toughness. Everyone wants to go oh it's easy to be an All-Pro clicker and to be able to watch stuff on film and say, 'Oh, he should have done this, he should have done that,' or, 'He can improve on that.' That's the easy way.

"But in my position, I know how I come to work every single day and I know the belief that my teammates have in me. That's why every single week, I'm going to come out and just try to improve and get better, not for you guys and not for anyone outside of here, but for the guys in this building."

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