As the New York Giants prepare to take on the Buffalo Bills in a Week 6 Sunday Night Football matchup, the former team's crowded injury report is one of the main topics of discussion. All eyes will be on the status of Giants star running back Saquon Barkley, who is currently listed as questionable.
Many Giants fans, pundits and fantasy football managers are all asking the same question as the clock keeps ticking towards the Giants-Bills Week 6 clash: Is Saquon Barkley playing on Sunday vs the Bills?
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Giants: Saquon Barkley injury status vs Bills
The fact that Barkley drew the questionable tag for Week 6 would seem to be an encouraging sign considering that the Giants had ruled him out the day before the team's Week 4 Thursday night game, then considered him doubtful before Week 5.
Perhaps most encouraging of all is the fact that Barkley has been able to practice in a limited fashion for three straight weeks while dealing with the ankle injury.
What injury does Saquon Barkley have?
Barkley suffered the injury when his right ankle got caught in the bottom of a pile late during the Giants' huge comeback win over the Arizona Cardinals back in Week 2.
New York deemed Barkley “day-to-day” after the win over Arizona, calling the injury an ordinary sprain of the ankle.
But Barkley clarified this, saying that he has a high-ankle sprain but that it was not as severe as it could have been.
High ankle sprains have the tendency to linger- and Barkley has dealt with this issue in the past. But the star running back does seem to be trending in the right direction, as Giants head coach Brian Daboll said- and Barkley himself confirmed on Thursday.
How close is Saquon Barkley to playing?
Barkley told reporters that “pain” and “cutting” are hurdles in his recovery, but that he felt “way better this Wednesday and Thursday” than he did in the past, per Giants.com.
Daboll was singing a similar tune, saying that “he's closer.”
The Giants don't want to tip their hand to a superior Bills opponent, but it sure sounds like Barkley is in line to play on Sunday.
What to do with Saquon Barkley in fantasy football?
This is certainly not an ideal situation for fantasy football, given that the Giants play on Sunday night, and word of Barkley's status may not arrive until shortly before kickoff.
It puts managers who have few options outside of Barkley in a bit of a bind. However, there is enough optimism surrounding Barkley that word will likely be leaked on his injury status, possibly during the early morning reports on Sunday.
Should that not be the case, fantasy managers in deeper leagues can pick up Giants backup Matt Breida or even Buffalo Bills backup running back Latavius Murray as break-glass-in-case-of-emergency options.
Plus, if managers have players on their bench that are playing in the Dallas Cowboys-Los Angeles Chargers game on Monday night, they can turn to one of those options in the event Barkley missed the contest.
If Barkley plays, he's absolutely worth starting against a Bills defense that has allowed the eighth-most rushing yards and fourth-most receiving yards to opposing running backs this year.
Check back for further updates on Barkley's status as it gets closer to the Giants-Bills showdown.
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