Transcript: Running Back Saquon Barkley

Running Back Saquon Barkley

August 18, 2022

Q: It seemed like a pretty good practice for the offense today. How is the offense coming along?

A: Coming along pretty well. Everyday grinding, competing with the defense. The defense – we have a great defense over there. Some great players. So, iron sharpens iron, and we’re taking it one day at a time and continuing to grow.

Q: Why aren’t you doing much out there?

A: You know, I’m just going with my reps. The Giants do a really good job of watching the workload, and it’s kind of what it is. We’ve been grinding there. We’ve been grinding, and I’m just taking it day-by-day.

Q: You’re healthy?

A: Yep.

Q: Seeing special teams spending a lot of time working on pass-pro. How big of a focus is that for you, and what do you need to do to improve that area?

A: Pass-pro is a big focus for me, just continuing to get more confident, continue to just get more technically sound with the technique and dropping my hips, punching not catching. K Faulk (Kevin Faulk, Bill Walsh Coaching intern) is doing a really good job with me in that time. And just everything not just that: catching the ball, balance, with so many team reps and short individual time, you don’t really get that much work on yourself as a running back. So, we take that time to, and LY too, we take that time to just anything, whether it’s pass-pro, catching, running back drills, just getting the hands active, getting the feet active, whatever it can be to help make me a better player. We use that time for that.

Q: At what point do you think, or maybe it’s started already, you’ll start to sort of taper back a little bit, and you’ll start to focus on September 11th?

A: You mean like personally or like?

Q: No. Just your workload and things like that?

A: I think we’re kind of just taking it day-by-day, going with the flow. I’m just trying to do a really good job of listening to the coaches, listening to the training staff and come here and try to compete and get better every single day. My moto this year is whatever the coaches want me to do, I just go out there and try to compete and do it to the best of my ability.

Q: How much did you know (Running Back) Matt Breida before he got here? I know he has not been practicing lately, but what is your impression of what he can bring as a complement to you?

A: I never got to meet Matt before, but obviously just being a fan of the game, one thing I knew about Matt is that he’s pretty fast. He’s really fast to be honest. So, I would love to test my speed against him – give him a race. I think he might have got me in long distance, but anywhere from 60 and below, I think I can take him on that. But he’s been a great teammate. He’s been in the system before, so he’s kind of been the vet in the room – someone I can go lean onto when I have questions about whether it’s technique or footwork or ‘Okay, on this play, where are your eyes at?’ So, it’s great to have someone in the room like that with not only myself but with (Running Back Antonio Williams) Tone coming in, being in the system, he’s been great too. All the running backs been doing a great job competing. We have a very competitive room. So, I’m excited for all those guys every time they get out there and make some plays.

Q: In what ways do you feel different this year, whether physically or mentally?

A: The way I feel different is I can just go out there and practice. I can go out there and work on my craft. Last year, it was kind of more of a battle of get to Sunday. That’s a big difference. I couldn’t do camp and then during the week once I started feeling good again, I had a thing where I stepped on someone’s foot against Dallas, and you got to grind, you got to grind and try to get to Sunday. Now, I can come out and work on my craft and get better every single day. That’s the biggest difference. And practice makes perfect. I’m a big believer in that. You’ll never be perfect. My game will never be perfect, but that’s what I’m going to shoot for and the only way you can do that is by practicing and getting reps in.

Q: Coach Daboll talked about being really happy with you getting north and south when you’ve been running, has that been a conscious effort for you to get north and south and get the ball up-field?

A: No, to be honest. That’s just part of my game. As a running back, understanding the scheme. Understanding what I have to do. This is probably the last time I’m going to speak on this, I know people want to say, ‘dancing and this in the third, he don’t get north and south,’ but I’m not just going to run into any of my lineman back. That’s not how I play the game. That’s not how I’ve been playing since I was eight years old. I’ve been playing this position for a very long time, and by no means am I the perfect running back, and I still got so much work to do. But I know that’s been the conversation or been a thought or been a thing out there that’s said about me it, ‘He don’t know what he’s doing. He’s just dancing back there.’ I’m really kind of fed up with people who never played a position and try to speak on how I run a position. We call them all pros with clickers in their hand. Running back is a tough position, but it’s easy to be there and watch football and watch on tv, or even watch on watch film and stop the clicker and say, ‘Oh, he should’ve made that cut.’ There’s a lot of things that go into making that cut. There’s a lot of things like your shoulders being square. There’s a lot of things that have an impact on your vision. So, but the coaches have to make a point of emphasis a running style that we have as a team and a mentality that we have as a team. And like I said, I’m going to do whatever coach wants me to do. And that’s been my focus, trying to be the best running back I can for this team.

Q: Daboll is the one that said that after the game. So that’s part of them coaching you not to do that? Not to dance.

A: No. So, like when he says, ‘Get north and south,’ he’s talking about like the physicality, me trusting myself, me getting downhill. But like when people try to make it the north and south, like they’re trying to – like not coach in particular – but people are trying to use that as an example of saying that I’m back there like I’m dancing. Like dancing is stuff that you do in high school football – in little league football where you run this way. You run that way. That’s not my thought process. If I’m making a run, if I’m making a run back in the day, and someone breaks free and is in my face, I’m not just going to run right at him. I’m going to try to get back to the line of scrimmage. That’s part of my craft and that’s part of my game. But like I said with coach, that’s kind of an emphasis meaning like, ‘Alright, we want to get more physical. We want to get more downhill.’ But, not saying like, ‘Oh. You’re not hitting north and south.’ Does that make sense?

Q: Is this first time in a while you’ve felt like the guy who came out of Penn State and could do anything he wanted on the field?

A: Yeah, I kind of have that confidence back that anytime I touch the ball that I can take it to the house. Whether it’s blocked up, catch the defense lacking, I feel like I can do that. And that comes with just with practice. Practice makes perfect. Get the reps in. Sharpen yourself. You know, work on your craft.

Q: What have you learned about (Quarterback) Tyrod (Taylor), and what can bring to the table for you guys?

A: Tyrod, the one thing I learned about Tyrod, this might sound so weird, but he smells good, man. I don’t know. I tell him all the time, like we joke around, and say he’s the smoothest man in football. But like, no matter what, like, before practice, after practice, before workout, after workout, he doesn’t tell me his secret. He won’t let me know what he’s putting on. But he’s a smooth cat. Obviously, he’s a competitor. He’s a veteran. He’s a great quarterback. I feel like that’s some one that (Quarterback Daniel Jones) DJ can lean on, too. And he’s been a great teammate ever since he’s been here.

Q: He’s had a lot of weird stuff happen in his career with the punctured, you know the injury, with the punctured lung thing and all that stuff. Have you followed his career at all and seen some of the trials and tribulations he’s gone through?

A: I’m a little familiar with it. I don’t know too much about it. I do remember the story about that. I know he had a hamstring before, and I think it was when he was in Houston. But he’s just one of those guys who comes in every single day – comes to work. He’s a great competitor. And he’s a smooth cat. So, that’s what it is.

Q: We hear a lot about Daniel. There’s a lot of noise about Daniel that goes around about whether he can be your franchise guys or not. You as his teammate, what do you see that tells you, you know, what are you seeing out there even now that tells you, ‘Hey this can still be the guy,’?

A: He makes plays. I’ve seen it over and over again throughout his career and in practice, especially in this market, we love to focus on some of the negative plays that’ve happened. But that’s anywhere, to be honest. But at the end of the day, I know what we’re going to get from Daniel. I know the type of attitude we’re going to get, the work ethic that we’re going to get and the leadership that we’re going to get. And he comes to work every single day, and that’s all you can ask him. When you see that, there’s nothing you can do but respect the guy. And that’s why for me personally, I’m always going to ride for him and I’m going to do the best I can to try to make his job easier. And I feel like if I’m healthy and I can go out there and produce at a high level, that can make his life a little easier. And if he’s playing at a high level and I’m playing at a high level, we all are grooving and playing collectively on offense and all three faces of the ball, we can accomplish anything we want to accomplish this year.