Source: Benjamin Solomon / Getty
The NFL season may have just begun, but it’s already over for New York Giants fans.
Sunday afternoon, the Giants took on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field when in the first play of the second quarter Saquon Barkley went down with an injured right knee. It was immediately announced that he’d be out for the game as fans feared the worst when he was carted off the field. And now, the worst has been confirmed as the Giants say that Barkley has suffered a torn ACL and will be out for the remainder of the season.
“Giants running back Saquon Barkley underwent an MRI of his right knee this morning at Hospital for Special Surgery. The results of the testing confirmed that Barkley suffered a torn ACL in yesterday’s game in Chicago,” the franchise announced.
Barkley will undergo surgery in the near future as the Giants hope he can make it back into the line up for the 2021-2022 season after a lengthy rehab process.
This is just the latest round of bad news for the New York Giants who’ve been struggling for the past few seasons with an aging Eli Manning, trading Odell Beckham Jr., as this is the team’s third consecutive season to start 0-2. Barkley was expected to one of the few silver linings of this campaign because of his dominant run game. This is only quarterback Daniel Jones’ second season, and with Manning retiring during the offseason, he’s no longer got a Super Bowl-winning veteran in his ear teaching him the ropes.
Fellow Giant running back Dion Lewis understands the stark reality of the situation and knows how tough it will be without Barkley on the field.
“He’s Saquon Barkley, so you lose a guy like that, it’s a huge loss,” Lewis said. “Receivers have to step up, O-line has to step up, running backs have to step up, quarterback has to step up, defense has to step up. It’s not going to be one person who steps up to make up for what he’s done.”
The Giants’ third game of the season takes place on September 27 against the San Francisco 49ers.
