Saquon Barkley suffered an ankle injury in Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it is severe enough that the New York Giants star is not expected to be back on the field for several weeks.
Barkley has been diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain and will miss multiple games, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
The #Giants are expecting to be without star RB Saquon Barkley for the next several weeks because of his high-ankle sprain, source said. Not surprising given the nature of the injury and his presence with a walking boot and crutches on the sideline.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 23, 2019
High-ankle sprains typically take 4-6 weeks to fully recover from, so the timeline is not a surprise. Barkley said after Sunday’s game that he had the same injury while playing at Penn State and believes he will be fine, though the team probably is not going to risk having him play hurt.
Barkley suffered the injury when his leg bent awkwardly underneath him on a low hit, and he needed to be helped to the locker room. He later returned to the sideline wearing a walking boot and using crutches. He had eight rushes for 10 yards and four catches for 27 yards prior to his exit.
While Daniel Jones led the Giants to a comeback win in his first NFL start, not having Barkley in the backfield will be a significant challenge for the rookie. New York’s offense runs through Barkley, so someone will have to pick up the slack in his absence.
