Giants' Saquon Barkley Says He Will Use Tiki Barber's Criticism as 'Challenge'

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley told reporters Thursday that he will take ex-Giant great Tiki Barber's recent criticism of his pass protection as a "challenge," per Jordan Raanan of ESPN.

"Obviously, Tiki is a legend. Done a lot of great things for this franchise," Barkley said per Raanan.

"So I'm not going to look at it as disrespect. I'm going to look at it as a challenge."

Barkley struggled with pass-blocking in the Giants' 26-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, prompting Barber to make these comments on CBS Sports Radio's Tiki and Tierney Show.

"Saquon Barkley might not be an every-down back," Barber said.

"He cannot pass-protect. It is starting to become glaring ... and it's gonna be a liability. ... Recognition is one. And then, two, you gotta go hit a dude. Saquon Barkley is a big man who doesn't want to hit anybody. It's frustrating to watch. He's a great back, but he's frustrating to watch trying to pass-protect."

Barkley excelled as a pass-catcher with six receptions for 60 yards but couldn't get anything going on the ground, rushing 15 times for six yards.

The storyline for the Giants' loss was the team's inability to protect quarterback Daniel Jones, with this statistic from Pro Football Focus telling much of the story:

Barkley certainly wasn't at fault for all pressures, and he did well on some other assignments.

But he struggled overall. Bobby Skinner of Talkin' Giants provided a breakdown, as did Raanan:

Barkley did not have a good game, but in defense of him, the entire Giants offense walked into a lion's den against the Steelers, who finished with the NFL's third-most efficient defense in 2019, per Football Outsiders. They're strong contenders to finish as the league's top defense with all of their main contributors back.

On the Giants' side of the ball, New York featured three new starting offensive linemen in left tackle Andrew Thomas, center Nick Gates and right tackle Cam Fleming, none of whom had played a game together until Monday. The team also has a brand-new coaching staff led by Joe Judge, who has navigated his first offseason amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a truncated (and sometimes virtual) offseason program.

Combine those two factors, and you have Jones taking eight quarterback hits and getting sacked three times.

He was also pressured by linebacker Bud Dupree on a back-breaking third-quarter interception with the Giants down 16-10 and facing a 2nd-and-goal from the Steelers' 3-yard line.

Unfortunately for the Giants, the early portion of their schedule features some of the game's top pass-rushers, so they aren't about to get a reprieve.

Khalil Mack and the Chicago Bears are next. The Giants will see them in the Windy City on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.