New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley only got to play in two games under new head coach Joe Judge before he was lost for the season to a torn ACL. However, Barkley has been keeping an eye on the team as he works toward the 2021 season and he’s happy with what he’s seeing from the team with Judge at the helm.
“I think it starts with coach [Joe] Judge and all the coaches,” Barkley said on NFL Network. “I think they’re doing a tremendous job of keeping the main thing the main thing, and that’s coming in every day, focusing on the little things, focusing on getting one perfect better that day.
“Obviously we know right now we’re sitting at the top of the NFC East, but sadly, we wish it was today, the playoffs don’t start next week. We still got the rest of the season, so we’ve got to focus on getting better, finish the season strong and everything that we wanted from the beginning of the year, our goals are still on line ... but we’ve got to stay focused on the little things.”
The Giants have won three straight games to find themselves at the top of the NFC East with five weeks remaining. They managed to scrape out a win in Cincinnati on Sunday despite losing quarterback Daniel Jones to a hamstring injury in the third quarter.
After a rough start to his first year with the Giants that saw an 0-5 stretch to begin the year, the team has now one four of its last six games with a 22-21 loss in Philadelphia and a 25-23 loss to Tampa Bay. A road trip to Seattle this week will be a tough test with Colt McCoy likely to start at quarterback in place of Jones, but it could be a more telling measuring stick over where the team is currently at than the five games played against Washington, Philadelphia and Cincinnati over the last six weeks.
Barkley believes Judge has done a great job of handling the circumstances of the season and finding a way forward despite all the obstacles put in his way for his first season at the helm.
“I think he’s been doing a tremendous job, just the way he asserted himself in that leadership role from the beginning,” Barkley said. “It’s probably a lot harder to do because we had to do it over Zoom. 2020 has not been ideal for anyone. But he did a great job and continues to do a great job.
“Not only him, all of the coaches, all of the new coaches that came forward are doing a great job of leading this team. Everything that we said we wanted to accomplish this year is right there and it starts with those guys with all the coaches.”