In the midst of the New York Giants‘ first win of the season on Sunday, September 17, Saquon Barkley suffered a right ankle sprain late in the fourth quarter. After some speculation that Barkley could be available for this week’s Thursday Night game in San Francisco, the team officially ruled him out for Week 3 on Wednesday.
Early reports had suggested that Barkley could miss three weeks with the injury, but on Tuesday, coach Brian Daboll said in a press conference that he had not ruled Barkley out just yet.
“Saquon is a lot better than I thought he would be today. … He might heal a little bit different than another player if you will, so we’ll just take it day-to-day with him,” Daboll said Tuesday.
This statement by Daboll could have possibly been a decoy to keep San Francisco coaches on their heels. After all, Daboll studied under Bill Belichick in New England from 2000 to 2006 and from 2013-2016. Belichick was known to be extremely vague and misleading when it came to reporting on players’ injuries.
Joining Barkley on the bench for Thursday’s game will be LT Andrew Thomas (Hamstring), LB Azeez Ojulari (Hamstring) and OL Ben Bredeson (concussion) per Dan Duggan of The Athletic.
Jalin Hyatt &Fellow Rookies Must Step Up in Week 3
Jalin Hyatt had two very impactful plays during the Giants’ epic come-from-behind victory in week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals. His first career reception happened early in the third quarter. A 58-yard bomb from Daniel Jones that set up the Giants’ first touchdown of the entire season and then a critical 31-yard catch in the fourth quarter that led to the game-tying touchdown.
This week the Giants face a stout 49ers defensive line led by Nick Bosa. With the absence of Saquon Barkley and the success that we saw from the Giants passing attack in the second half last week, we can expect quarterback Daniel Jones to look for Hyatt and the receiving corps to carry the offense.
Hyatt has already become a vocal member of the crew. During the comeback win in Arizona, he was seen rallying the team on the sideline.
Wanted to throw this little comp together of Jalin Hyatt on the sideline — fantastic teammate, hyping everyone up, showing love to those who made plays.
That energy is what we need — he’s gonna make a big impact the rest of the way #NYG
Another player to keep an eye on is Rookie RB Eric Gray who has thus far been delegated to kick and punt return duties but may see some carries along with Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell.
The Giants & 49ers Continue a Historic Rivalry
According to the The Football Database, the 49ers have played the Giants 42 times since 1952 and the Giants have won 17 regular season games while the 49ers have also won 17 and both have won 4 postseason games against each other making the overall record an even 21-21.
Some of the more memorable matchups include the 1990 NFC Championship game which saw the Giants defeat the 49ers and put a stop to their quest for a third straight Super Bowl title. The game ended on a Matt Bahr 42-yard field goal and is immortalized by announcer Pat Summerall’s quote “there will be no three-peat” after Bahr made the kick.
During the Giants’ playoff run to the 2012 Super Bowl, they faced off against San Francisco in a hard-hitting NFC Championship game that went into overtime and ended when 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams was stripped of the football by Giants linebacker Jacquian Williams on a punt return. New York recovered and Lawrence Tynes kicked the game-winning field goal to put the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, which they won over the New England Patriots.
On September 20, Giants LB Carl Banks recently expressed his opinions on the long-running rivalry, writing on X, “When I played and it’s still true today. If you have playoff or Super Bowl aspirations, you have to come to this team, and beat them. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow came through beating the 49ers.”
Pot-O-Gold! They got clubs, you got clubs. KEEP SWINGING.. #mentallytough
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Giants Make Final Call on Saquon Barkley’s Status for Week 3