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Post-Game Transcript: RB Saquon Barkley

Eric from BBI : Admin : 12/2/2018 6:52 pm
NYG Postgame (vs. Bears) Transcripts: RB Saquon Barkley -- December 2, 2018

Q: What does it mean to be able to close out and come away with a win today?
A: It definitely means a lot. Like you said, we’ve been on the other side of this situation and the message at halftime was ‘come out, play for each other, and come out and finish the game.’ We started fast in the first half and we started fast in the second half. It took an extra quarter but we got the job done.

Q: Your first carry of the game you broke a Giants rookie franchise rushing record that had been in place since 1936. Obviously these personal accolades don’t mean as much as the wins but do you ever look at this and say ‘wow,’ or are you ever kind of pinching yourself this season?
A: Not really. You’re just so stuck in the moment and so stuck in the season and trying to get better every single day. At the end of the day you work your butt off, but stuff like that is pretty cool. You couldn’t do that by yourself, so I’ve got to give credit to the offensive line and coaches for helping me get that record. Hopefully we can extend it a little longer and get some more wins.

Q: What happened with the shoulder?
A: Nothing.

Q: Were you having trouble with your pads?
A: Nah, I just had to go in there. You’re right. I had something underneath and I had to fix it.

Q: When you re-entered the game on 3rd and 8, were you expecting to get the ball in that situation?
A: I don’t know. Did I get the ball?

Q: The first play you came back out. It was the pass play.
A: No, I was just going with whatever the play call was and 3rd and 8. Know the situation, know we were probably passing so I was just trying to get my blitz side right and make sure if anybody comes, pick it up and do my responsibility and get to my route.

Q: Can you describe the play before halftime?
A: The O-line did a great job, first and foremost, with the block in the front. My mindset is try to get out of bounds in the situation like that and try to get as close as we can for the field goal. We broke the franchise record today right, on that field goal? That’s amazing for him but that was my mindset. Try to get as much as I can and get out of bounds and preserve time and try to get points on the board before going into halftime.

Q: Calling a run in that situation is pretty much a give up call. When he calls that, what goes through your mind?
A: Try to get as much as you can. In my mind, every time I touch the ball I believe that I have the ability to score and that I’m helping my teammates. We didn’t score on that play but it was a big play getting some momentum going into halftime making a 57-yard field goal. Everyone’s talking about me making cuts and moves on that, but if you go back and watch the film you see the blocking down the field is what actually set that up so you’ve got to give credit to not only the offensive line and their ability but obviously the blocking down field and for us to be able to get in this situation and make another play to get us closer to field goal range before halftime.

Q: Where would you rank this win compared to the others?
A: It’s just a win. Any win in the NFL is amazing. It’s hard to win in this league. We’ve only got four. We were in a lot of situations to win a lot of these games and we weren’t able to do that before but we were able to do that today and that’s the only thing that matters. Just win today. Now we’ve got to come back, watch the film, take the good, lose the bad and continue to get better.

Q: Where would you rank that leap? You’ve had a lot of leaps in your career. You got pretty high that time.
A: That was a cool one because it was off of two feet, but I’m just out there playing my heart out for my teammates. Trying to make plays and trying to find ways into the end zone to help my team win. You do things sometimes and you can’t explain it. Your body just takes over and that was one of those situations.

Q: What goes through your mind when you leap a defender who was almost straight up when you did that?
A: Most of the time, sometimes you can just do it off of reaction. Sometimes watching film, you know how the guy is going to tackle you. To be honest, there, my body took over and I just reacted and I jumped.

Q: You talk about ranking wins. It has to be especially satisfying the way you came back and won it in overtime especially after you struggled a little bit.
A: Yea. We didn’t start strong in the first half as an offense. The defense was playing lights out and we knew we had to pick it up. Halftime, that was the message just to come out and finish and work harder, and play harder for each other and we were able to do that. It didn’t finish in four quarters, we had to go to another quarter but we played a complete game. Offense and defense got involved in the second half and special teams and we were able to get the win.

Q: You mention the defense playing lights out. Chicago came into this game leading the league in takeaways but the Giants won the turnover battle today. How important was that?
A: Definitely important anytime, not only against a team that’s leading the league in turnovers. Anytime you go down and you watch games, more likely than not, if you win the turnover battle, you’re going to win the game. It’s not a given every single time but it increases your percentage of winning the game a lot more, so that’s the mindset that we have for every single game. As a running back, you’re more conscious because every time they stand you up, the second guy in there is trying to strip it out. They do a really good job of that, better than any other team in the NFL, so for us to win the turnover battle definitely helped us win this game and helps you win any game.

Q: How special is it to have the game you had today wearing those cleats right there?
A: Definitely special. I wish I was able to get into the end zone but you know, the only thing that really matters is a team win and we got a team win. To be able to wear those cleats with my niece’s name on there, help raise awareness and bring awareness to 22Q definitely meant a lot.

Q: Was she excited to see those cleats?
A: Yea, she was excited to see those cleats. She actually got a kind of version of those with her own shoe, so I got to give her those cleats and I’m going to take my own money and donate to the charity in her name.

Q: How is your shoulder?
A: Shoulder is good.

Q: How anxious are you (Inaudible regarding Saquon going into the tent)
A: It sucks because you’re only out there a few minutes but you’ve got to put your trust in the trainers and the doctors when you’re in. It was nothing crazy. Just had to put the pads back on, fix some of the padding.
Great player, class act  
Stan in LA : 12/2/2018 7:51 pm : link
And a winner. Rare combo.
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