Saquon Barkley can see the daylight now, daylight that is getting brighter by the day, daylight he has seen in his dreams for nearly a year, daylight he is champing at the bit to run to again.
He stood at the patio podium in uniform after a practice in which he absorbed contact — not Lawrence Taylor contact, of course, but first things first — for the first time since his comeback from New York’s most infamous torn ACL, and his answer to whether he felt like his old self spoke volumes about where he believes he is, and should give Giants fans enough optimism about Week 1 to run with it, alongside No. 26:
“I guess … I feel good. Taking one day at a time. I’m not even trying to think about, ‘Do I look like my old self?’ I’m a very confident player. I know whenever I’m able to get back out there — maybe it might be one quarter, maybe it might be one play — whatever the opportunity is, when I’m back out there, I know I’m gonna be able to go out there and be who I am and play how I am. So right now I’m not focusing on if I’m making cuts, saying, ‘Is that how I was before?’ I’m focused on getting in getting in football shape and just living in the moment, enjoying the moment and playing football again.”
The vision for the New York Football Giants’ offense that everyone from John Mara and Steve Tisch, to Dave Gettleman and the front office, to Joe Judge and Jason Garrett, to Daniel Jones, what they all have dreamed of came into sharper focus Thursday when Barkley was joined on the practice field for the first time in full pads and for the second time by WR Kenny Golladay, who was signed in free agency to be Batman to Barkley’s Robin, or Robin to Barkley’s Batman. And to be Jones’ Plaxico Burress.
Golladay’s rehab from a mild hamstring pull in training camp has been nowhere as arduous or as dramatic as Barkley’s has been, but the ole hamstring was a bugaboo for him in his 2017 rookie season and again last season in Detroit.
“Hamstrings are tricky,” Golladay said. “You gotta be smart and be patient with ’em.”
You gotta be smart and patient with your $72 million investment, too.
“It’s still fresh, still gotta get my legs up under me and everything,” Golladay said.
It is not lost on Golladay that the games will start to count on Sept. 12, when his mandate will be catching contested passes, especially in the red zone — he is 6-foot-4 — and deep shots from Jones.
“It’s definitely a little bump in the road, but we still have some days left,” Golladay said. “I gotta get a lot of catches in.”
Barkley is the better bet to start out on a pitch count. Golladay isn’t a running back who hasn’t played in a year.
“I think we have a real good feel for what his strengths are and the positions we want to put him in,” Garrett said. “It’s just time on task more than anything right now.”
If the offensive line isn’t an Achilles’ heel — a big if at the moment — there will be no excuses for Jones, and no excuses for Garrett to coordinate the 31st-ranked offense.
“When I look in the huddle and see all those guys,” Golladay said, “it’s very exciting. But people have been in and out of the lineup, so we’re going to be a little probably slow to get off. But we’ve got some workers on this team, and I feel like if we put the work in, I feel like we can be really special.”
The prospect of Barkley anywhere near close to his old self excites the entire franchise.
“Saquon is just a whole bunch of energy, man,” Golladay said. “It’s pretty much everything I saw before I even got here, and he comes out here and puts that on the field.”
One step at a time, one day at a time for Saquon Barkley. A lot of steps and a lot of days until this step and this day for Saquon Barkley.
“Within a normal practice, safely … they gave me some good shots,” Barkley said. “It’s in pass protection, route-running, just to get me back in the flow of things.”
No more red 26 jersey.
“I had a run [Wednesday], and I thought about it and I was like, ‘That’s kind of like the first time I’ve really carried the ball in that situation since the time I hurt my knee,’ ” Barkley said.
You better believe he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“I know Week 1 and the season’s right the corner, but I’m taking one day at a time,” Barkley said. “That’s the approach I’m gonna take, not just rehabbing but from now on.”
Someone asked whether he has been lobbying to get the green light for the opener, and Barkley said: “Those are personal conversations that I have within the team, I don’t feel that’s needed to be said in the media.”
Sometimes, especially when you know the essence of the man, some things don’t need to be said.