Giants' Saquon Barkley Says He Needs to 'Trust the Knee' After Slow Start to Season

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley said he's still working to "trust the knee" two games into his return from a torn ACL suffered early in the 2020 season.

Barkley showcased a brief glimpse of his prior playmaking ability with a 41-yard run in Thursday night's road loss to the Washington Football Team, but he finished the contest with a modest 57 rushing yards on 13 carries.

"I was able to go out there and play a full game. My body and my knee responded well. Kind of knocked that rust off and was able to find one type of run to get open a little bit," Barkley told reporters. "It was an explosive run, I guess. But got to continue to trust it, trust the knee, trust the system. Hopefully, I'm going to continue to get better."

The 24-year-old Penn State product recorded 26 yards on 10 attempts in the Giants' Week 1 loss to the Denver Broncos. His longest run in that contest was just five yards, so it was a promising sign to see him reach the second level on a run against Washington.

That said, Barkley has averaged just 1.9 yards per carry aside from that 41-yard run so far.

Barkley had a chance to close out the game in the final minutes with the G-Men at the Washington 20 with 2:16 left on the clock and down by one point, but he gained only three yards across first and second down. A subsequent Daniel Jones incompletion led to a Giants field goal to take a 29-27 lead rather than a touchdown that may have secured the win.

"I personally take that one on my shoulders right there," Barkley said. "I know what type of player I am, and two runs to only get [three] yards. Got to find a way to get in the end zone there. ... It's important to get the running game going. As the leader and the running back, that's on me. I'm gonna take that one, right there."

Washington responded with an 11-play, 50-yard drive to get in field-goal range. Dustin Hopkins missed the initial 48-yard attempt, but the Giants' Dexter Lawrence was called for offside, and Hopkins then made the 43-yard kick to secure the win.

New York dropped to 0-2 and face the NFL's second-toughest schedule for the remainder of the 2021 campaign, according to ESPN's Football Power Index.

Barkley getting back to the dynamic level he showed over his first two seasons, when he tallied a combined 3,469 yards from scrimmage and 23 total touchdowns, would provide a major boost in the Giants' quest to make a playoff push despite the difficult slate.

The early returns suggest it's going to take a while for the standout rusher to reach that previous standard, however, which is going to put even more pressure on Jones and the passing attack.

Next up for New York is a home game against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3.