New York Giants Running Back Saquon Barkley's Surgery a "Success"

Giants running back Saquon Barkley's surgery to reconstruct his ACL and clean out his meniscus was a success according to an Instagram story posted by his mother, Tonya Johnson, following the Friday procedure.

.@saquon had surgery on his ACL and is in good spirits 🙏

(via tonya1156/IG) pic.twitter.com/l6ldMyHrHY
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) October 31, 2020

The 23-year-old Barkley was injured in a Week 2 loss against the Bears in late September.

He was placed on injured reserve a couple of days later but didn't have the surgery right away for multiple reasons, including needing to allow his strained MCL to heal, waiting for some of the swelling to subside, and strengthening the muscles around the knee to ensure a rapid and successful rehab,

Barkley also had to wait for the surgeon, Los Angeles Dodgers team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who was part of the MLB playoff bubble in Arlington, Texas. The Dodgers recently won the World Series.

Barkley, elected a team captain by his peers, remained involved with his teammates even while on injured reserve. He was also brought along on road games by head coach Joe Judge, who felt it important to keep Barkley involved in the daily team activities.

The running back is expected to begin his rehab in a few weeks, and there is optimism that he will be fully ready for training camp next summer.

His 2020 season ended with him playing five quarters of football, rushing for 34 yards on 19 carries, and catching six out of nine pass targets for 60 yards.

He will enter the fourth year of his rookie contract in 2021.