The early window of Week 2 in the NFL saw a number of young stars go down with injuries, as one of the great fears of this season starting without preseason games and without as much contact was the potential for serious injuries early on.
Broncos second year starting quarterback Drew Lock and Niners second year star defensive end Nick Bosa both suffered injuries in the first quarter of their respective games that knocked them out of action. Lock suffered a shoulder injury, while Bosa was carted off with an apparent knee injury. Not long after, Giants young star running back Saquon Barkley added his name to the growing list of concerning injuries, as he went down with an apparent right knee injury after stepping awkwardly while being tackled on the sideline against the Bears.
Saquon is done, right knee injury, looks REALLY bad… Couldn’t even stand, took his helmet off immediately, the Giants are in trouble #TogetherBlue pic.twitter.com/JPQvsvnnPE
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) September 20, 2020
Barkley was helped back across the field to the Giants sideline, where trainers continued to evaluate him and he was eventually put on the cart and taken to the locker room, per reporters on site.
Saquon Barkley carted off now and slamming his fist in anger. Amazing to me the #Giants season feels over in September for a fourth straight year. At some point, you have to point up top. Gettleman has hit on a couple evals, but his process is flawed and the product is terrible.
— Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL) September 20, 2020
It is a brutal loss for the Giants, who built their offense around the combination of Barkley and young quarterback Daniel Jones. Barkley struggled in Week 1 against the Steelers, and New York’s inability to get the ground game going was a big reason for that loss. He had seemed to put those struggles behind him in Week 2 with 28 yards on four carries early against the Bears before his injury.
We’ll provide an update when one becomes available.