One of the bright spots coming into the new NFL season for the New York Giants is the looming return of Saquon Barkley. The prized running back tore his ACL back in Week 2 of last season, but is expected to return sometime this year.

The question remains from Giants fans is when exactly that's going to be. Barkley himself has been cautiously optimistic about his progress, with his return to the field seeming to go well without any hitches.

But Giants head coach Joe Judge wasn't as cheery when asked about his star RB after Wednesday's practice session.

Via Mark Cannizzaro of The New York Post:

“A large degree of what I want to see is kind of how he responds to some contact,’’ Judge said. “I want to see how he puts together three straight days of work as well. There’s a big part in just watching our players’ bodies respond. He’s no different than a lot of other guys we have right now coming off of injury that we’re going to have to see if these next three days, in terms of what they can handle by load and how we think their bodies are going to respond going into Sunday.

The Giants have every reason the take all the necessary precautions with Saquon Barkley. Sacrificing a few games without him is worth the security of his complete recovery.

“We got to make the best decision for everybody’s health going into the game. Saquon’s no different than that, so we’re taking that lens of player safety as we go ahead and look at all these guys for the opener.’’

Saquon Barkley is entering his fourth NFL season after an electric rookie year for the Giants. Hopefully this time off has energized him to find his best form yet again.