During this past weekend, New York Giants rookie running back Saquon Barkley suffered a mild strain to his left leg that has pushed the franchise roll cautiously with the situation.

The Giants have already started that route by keeping out of drills in Tuesday's practice as he stood watching his teammates take the field, according to Art Stapleton of USA TODAY Sports.

This is likely the route that the Giants will continue to take with the Penn State product given his importance to their future and offensive game plan. The team is hoping to feature him as a major part of their backfield as the leading factor behind his game-changing ability as a runner and receiver for the next decade. He had shown some of that promising potential on an impressive 39-yard run on his first carry in preseason action last Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns.

Barkley is dealing with an injury that could linger on if not handled properly, which has heightened the level of care that the team has taken with him. This may force him to miss more than just a week of the preseason as the team could elect to keep him out altogether in order to preserve his health for the start of the regular season. He has already shown that he has big-play ability that could finally give them an explosive three-down running back that they haven't had since the days of Tiki Barber.

In the meantime, New York will continue to keep a close eye on Barkley's health while planning accordingly to bring him along so that he's ready to give it a go for Week 1 action. The future is bright ahead of the 21-year-old, the Giants are simply aiming to get his career off on the right track in the 2018 campaign.