RB Saquon Barkley
October 3, 2018
Q: As you prepare to face this Carolina defense, what do you think are the biggest concerns about the offense? Just to find ways to execute better?
A: Yeah, we’ve got to get back to the basics. We’ve got to kind of do what we did the first drive against other teams, continue to have that momentum, that first drive epitomizes what we’re capable of doing on the football field and we have to have that mindset. It’s definitely going to be a tough challenge against the Panthers this week, a great defense led by (Luke Keuchly) who is an amazing talent, amazing player, but I think that we are willing enough and we’re ready to be able to match up with these guys and start to get it going on the offensive side of the ball.
Q: When you look at last week, that first drive, I think it was very similar to what you guys did the whole game in Houston, then it went away for three quarters. Why do you think that is? What do you think was different the rest of last week’s game?
A: That’s a great question. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due, the Saints had a great game plan I guess you could say. We got negative plays, penalties, that’s kind of been the story about a lot of the games so far on the offensive side of the ball getting behind the line of scrimmage when we can’t do that. We’ve got to get going early. That first play, you’ve got to be a five yard play, you’ve got to get the sticks moving somehow some way, whenever we get the sticks moving that’s when we’re at our best, that’s when any offense is at their best to be honest. I would say that’s the difference. Eliminate negative plays, MA’s, and penalties.
Q: In the four games, have you seen a pattern to the way teams are defending you that you guys can make adjustments?
A: Jacksonville played a little different. The Saints and the Cowboys kind of played similar. Houston kind of stuck with the game plan that they had, so it was a little mixture of everything. Obviously we don’t know what Carolina is going to do, but we’re going to game plan for what they’ve been doing and have answers for if they try to do something different. That’s the importance of football especially on the offensive side of the ball, it’s like playing chess, and you want to end up with that last piece.
Q: Different situation for you now in the pros being 1-3. Do you examine yourself when you go look at game tape, is it team-wise as far as play calls, how do you approach this right now?
A: The way you approach it is by not getting down. Obviously you’re 1-3, the season is obviously not over. It’s a long season but you can’t say it’s a long season forever because you get to a point where you get redundant and you keep saying that, then there’s no chance for you to make the playoffs. Everything that we still want, all of our goals are still in reach. Coach said something perfect today, he said the only thing that we’re not capable of doing this season is an undefeated season, and that only happened one time. I don’t know if everybody expects to win every single game, but most likely not going to win every single game. You’ve just got to continue to work, not get down like I said, have positive energy, come into the building and continue to work and like you said examine yourself, watch film, learn what you can do to help the team, learn what you can do better to help yourself better in certain situations and get ready for the next week.
Q: Can it be as simple as, stop making mistakes? Penalties, things like that?
A: Yeah, it is that simple. We’ve got to get back to playing Giants football. I don’t think really any team so far that we’ve played, obviously at the end of the game they had the win and they had more points than we had, but there’s a lot of things we did ourselves to put us in that situation. If we can fix ourselves and just focus on ourselves, I think the rest of the season will take care of itself.
Q: How do you feel physically?
A: Physically, I don’t think anybody would tell you they feel one hundred percent in Week 4 of the season but I feel great, I feel ready to go, ready to get this week started. Have practice this week, try to have the best practice we’ve had so far this (Wednesday) and get ready for Carolina.
Q: As I’m starting to get to know you, you’re very hard on yourself not matter how well you do in a game if the team loses. Am I right about that?
A: Yes sir.
Q: Have you always been that way? Why do you beat yourself up?
A: Even when you win, win or lose, I’m always going to be my biggest critic because I have the passion, I want to be great, I want to be a great player in this league and I have to hold myself to that standard. When we lose, you’ve got to look back on yourself.
Q: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in the NFL so far?
A: Biggest lesson I’ve learned by the NFL is, the difference in college was your first five games, four games, I don’t care if you’re in the SEC, Big 10, or wherever you play, there’s going to be some cake walks in there. There’s going to be some games where you should dominate the team, and I think you look so far in the NFL, every team that’s played has been mostly a close game. That’s when we’ve got to find a way to separate ourselves. We can’t almost win these games, we can’t make those mistakes to lose those games, we’ve got to find a way to win that game. We got up against Houston, and Houston made a great comeback and they pushed in the second half, but we found a way to finish that game and win that game. That’s the difference in college and the NFL, every single week is going to be a dog fight no matter if the team is 0-7 and 7-0, this is their job. This what they get paid to do.
Q: How big a load touch-wise would you be able to handle?
A: Whatever. Simple as that. Whatever the team needs me to do, however many touches they need me to do, however many carries they need me to do, however many plays they need me to do, I’m willing to do it. It wouldn’t bother me, my mind wouldn’t be different, my body wouldn’t be different. At the end of the day you still have to come in here and take care of your body, I’m still going to do that no matter if I touch the ball twice or touch the ball 25 times.
Q: You refer to ‘we have to play Giants football’. Can you describe what your vision of Giants football is?
A: Giants football is just being consistent, running the ball, making efficient plays, maximizing on the opportunities when we get the opportunities, stay away from mistake-free football – obviously you’re going to make mistakes, but make less mistakes than the other team, not turn the ball over.
Q: (Pat Shurmur) said he thought Will Hernandez played his best game on Sunday. You both came in this rookie class. When you watch him develop, what have you seen out of Will so far?
A: One, I love his work ethic. I love his passion for the game. He’s a gritty player, definitely love how he plays in the trenches. Not only him, but everybody in this rookie class, when you see (B.J. Hill), even (Sean Chandler) on special teams, and even though (Kyle Lauletta’s) not playing right now, Kyle is developing in practice. I think our rookie class is very special, we have a lot of special talented players in that class, and I think there’s a lot of room for growth, and I think if we continue to work our butt off, we can be special.
Q: Do you think the offensive line is starting to find its footing and building on some early season struggles?
A: I wouldn’t really say it was early season struggles, the first game we played probably the best defense in the NFL and I don’t know if anybody really had – we’re probably the only team that got 100 yards on them so far. I don’t know that stat for sure, but I’m willing to bet. Obviously it’s just everything, it wasn’t O line struggles, it was everybody just getting comfortable with each other, getting familiar with each other, myself playing as a rookie early, new offensive coaches, offensive staff – everybody getting familiar with each other and continuing to learn, we just have to continue to believe in each other and I think if we continue to do that, we’ll get better throughout the year.
Q: How would you evaluate your play personally through four games?
A: I’ve got to be better. I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job of breaking tackles so far, I’ve got to find a way to break more tackles. I was brought here to be an efficient player and when the opportunity comes, create big plays, and I’ve got to do a better job there. A lot of the reason we haven’t been successful is we haven’t been able to run the ball, we haven’t run the ball as well as we are capable of. That’s where my job kicks in and that’s where myself and the O line, we’re kind of a whole when it comes to that, where we’ve got to take that as a personal challenge and continue to work and get better. When the next game comes, when the opportunity comes, capitalize on it.
