It's been a rough season for New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley worked hard to get back on the field following last year's season-ending injury, only to injure his ankle just as the comeback was beginning. Since that point the Giants halfback has struggled and looked like a shell of himself. If that wasn't enough for his haters, Barkley's latest actions are only adding fuel to his doubters' fire.

Apparently, Giants star Saquon Barkley was nowhere to be found when reporters were looking for him following the blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. It was up to quarterbacks Mike Glennon and Jake Fromm and backup running back Devontae Booker, to answer to the media.

Giants head coach Joe Judge shrugged off the issue, saying that he doesn't pay attention to who speaks to the media and who doesn't. However, Judge- and Barkley- know the optics of him avoiding the media. And they're not good.

Look, the last thing Barkley wants to do is go up on that podium and listen to reporters rattle off all of his disappointing statistics and reasons why he has underperformed. But it comes with the territory.

And fair or not, Barkley is one of the faces of the post-Eli Manning Giants, whose leader seemingly carried himself the right way no matter his performance or the result.

It sucks that Saquon Barkley and the Giants are having the kind of season they're having. It sucks that Barkley has to answer questions about if he's a bust or not when he knows how talented he is.

However, doing these things, especially when it's hard, is part of being a leader and a captain.