Giants RB Saquon Barkley Shares Thoughts Behind His Fast Start

Saquon Barkley is off to a fast start in his fifth season and looks to continue his dominance on Sunday against the Bears. He recently reflected on why things are going his way so far.

Author:
Andrew Parsaud
Publish date:
Oct 1, 2022 3:34 PM EDT

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New York Giants

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley is coming off an 81-yard, 1-touchdown performance against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night.

Barkley’s touchdown run, his second so far this season looked like a vintage run from the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He made two cuts, one inside, and then planted his foot to cut back outside and take it to the house for six.

Barkley has shown great burst through three weeks and has been one of the most efficient running backs in the league, especially when receiving carries from under center rather than shotgun, a fact that he was asked about this past week.

“I didn’t know that," he said. "I don’t know the reason behind that. We’re having success in the run game the first couple of games, and we got to continue to build on it and use that to our advantage to help us win some more games.”

“You can see stuff a little bit clearer from home. You can see everything from home. I guess it makes it a little easier, you could say. It clears up your vision a little more rather than gun. There’s nothing really to it. The bigger runs we hit so far have been from home than gun.”

Despite their loss on Monday, the Giants are off to their best start in six years. Barkley's play is a big reason they’re 2-1. He’s single-handedly carrying the offense, as that was evident against the Cowboys, scoring the Giants’ only touchdown of the night.

The offense still has a lot to work through, but they are looking to bounce back and become 3-1 this week with Barkley leading the way.

“You want to win every game you can, so you definitely would rather be 3-1 than 2-2," Barkley said. "As I said, you don’t go in any game with the mindset like, ‘Okay, if we 2-2, then what?’ If that happens, then you prepare for that, but you go in with the mindset of trying to win a game and do whatever you can to win a game. If you can get to 3-1 in the first quarter of a season, obviously not looking too far ahead, never satisfied, but I would say that’s a pretty good start. We got to find a way to get to 3-1 against a very good team playing well. So, we’ll try to capitalize on that.”

Despite the Chicago Bears' historically bad start in passing the ball, their run game is a completely different story. The Bears are averaging over 180 yards per game on the ground this year and 5.4 yards per carry.

The Bears defense has allowed just 603 yards through the air and 7.1 yards per target. If the Giants want to kick-start their passing offense, they need to find ways to incorporate Barkley. He had four receptions for 45 yards against the Cowboys and has seen 15 targets this year. It won’t be easy, as the Bears defense does have a good amount of talent.

Highlighted by edge rusher Robert Quinn (assuming he plays this week) and linebacker Roquan Smith, Barkley certainly realizes that while he and the team are playing well, they’re also playing a Bears team that has played good enough to be 2-1.

“Yeah, Roquan – I feel like I play him every year," Barkley said with a smile. " He’s a heck of a player, very instinctive, super athletic. He’s one of those guys – I remember the game when I tore my knee against them. I went out wide and he came out. He was the first linebacker that ever tried to press me.

"I was like, that just shows you – usually, a lot of times, especially a linebacker, is going to want to back off and be threatened by my speed. It shows you how much confidence they have in him and how much he has in himself. Any time you go against a player like that, you want to rise to the level of your competition.

"They have a tremendous team over there and a great defense. They’re 2-1, and we know they’ll try to come out here and get another win. We just got to try to do the best we can to defend home turf and execute the plays that we can.”

Barkley’s fast start has resulted in him being the NFL leader in scrimmage yards with 408. He’s the second leading rusher in the NFL with 317 yards on the ground, only behind Browns running back Nick Chubb.

Despite his growing numbers, Saquon isn’t worried about his stats as much as people think.

“I don’t look at my numbers. You scroll on Instagram and see the top-five rushers. I don’t go searching for my numbers," he said.

"The way I go about it is like – I take care of the little things, and the rest will take care of itself. I know the goals and the things I want to accomplish. It’s not necessarily a certain number that – I just look at it as you continue to keep climbing up that mountain, and the only way you can get to the top of that mountain is by taking it one step at a time.”

The numbers are great, but Barkley is a big advocate of remembering how hard he worked to get back. Injuries have taken a toll on him in the previous two seasons, and he’s learned a lot from sitting out to playing with no confidence.

He admits he’s now a smarter player than he was four seasons ago as a rookie. Everything he’s seen up to this point proves that he has become a student of the game, which has translated onto the field.

“I would say all that, gaining confidence and surprising myself. I wouldn’t say surprising myself; gaining that belief in myself happened in OTAs and camp. Going through that process was a blessing. Camp is a grind, but I feel like it helped not only me but anyone in general when you can go out there and practice at a high level against great competition.

"Obviously, you guys see how good our defense is. Going against those guys gives you the confidence to come into the season to play at a high level. Made some plays so far early in the year, but it’s just the start. Got to keep grinding, got to stay on it and keep trusting the system, keep trusting the offensive line and try to find a way to continue to get better.”

So is he better than ever before?

“I don’t know if I’m better," he said. "I would say I’m probably a smarter player. I have a better understanding of the game than in my rookie year. My rookie year is when you come into the best shape of your life – you’re 21, you’re young, I hadn't had any injuries in the past or anything like that.

"I probably was in better physical shape than I was but just understanding the game, slowing down the game. I don’t see myself doing anything different, just have a better understanding, listen to (running backs) coach (DeAndre) Smith, (offensive line) coach Bobby (Johnson), all the coaches, and trust the offensive line. That’s how the plays have been working, and I got to continue to do that.”