Giants fans frustrated after RB’s absence results in horror show vs 49ers - “Hot garbage without Saquon Barkley and they didn’t wanna pay him”

On Thursday, the New York Giants visited the San Francisco 49ers without one of their most important players: running back Saquon Barkley, who sprained his right ankle against the Arizona Cardinals. (He would later reveal that it was the high type during the Amazon Prime broadcast.)

Head coach Brian Daboll had been holding out for hope on the Monday before the game, saying:

“Whatever it is, we’ll have a plan ready to go. If he can play, he can play, and if he can’t, then we’ll have the other guys prepared and ready to go.

“I’m hopeful. Haven’t talked to him this morning before he went to get further tests, but I don’t want to speculate until I have the full information.”

But the hope never materialized, and the Giants lost 12-30. Without him, the team's ground game suffered, with just 29 yards, mainly from backup Matt Breida, who was also responsible for their only touchdown of the game.

They still managed to keep it close until the third quarter, but whatever hopes of a comeback they still had vanished when the 49ers piled up 13 unanswered points after Breida scored, mainly from rookie kicker Jake Moody.

And it did not take long for the NFL X community to find the culprit:

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When will Saquon Barkley return to action?

According to a source for the New York Post, while a high ankle sprain is usually far more serious than a low ankle sprain and needs a month to heal, Saquon Barkley's case was not as bad as it could have been.

In fact, he was on the sidelines, wearing sweatpants and normal sneakers instead of the usual walking boot and not limping whenever he moved. The New York Giants are also not playing until Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks, meaning Barkley could be cleared to play that game unless circumstances prove otherwise.

Speaking to reporters, head coach Brian Daboll said the running back "was considerably better" and "walking around" but still had no guarantees:

“We’ll see where it goes next week.”

In his two games so far, Barkley has had 114 yards and a touchdown on 29 touches.