Torn ACL was ‘weakest moment’ of my life

Saquon Barkley has put on a brave face publicly about his torn ACL. He’s committed to returning in 2021 like the player everyone remembers. But at the time of the injury, he was devastated.

“When I hurt my knee, I’m not going to lie, that’s probably the weakest moment of my life, especially in those first few days,” Barkley said on the “Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson” podcast. “I just couldn’t control myself crying, asking ‘Why me? Why me? Why me?”

Barkley, who suffered the injury in a Week 2 loss to the Bears in Chicago, needed support, and he got a ton from the team’s running backs coach Burton Burns.

“On that third day, it just hit, and it was just like ‘So what, now what,’” Barkley said. “This is a saying that Coach Burns is always telling me. It happened, so, like you said, adversity makes the weak weaker and makes the strong stronger. You have to pick and choose what side you want to be on.”

Barkley feels he is on pace to return strong — he is recuperating this offseason with ex-Giants teammate Odell Beckham Jr. But if he can’t recapture his previous form, the star running back knows it won’t be due to effort or dedication.

“No matter what, if I came back and things didn’t go the way I don’t envision it going, which I can’t see that because that’s the way I envision it, but I know I’m going to do everything necessary to put myself in the right position, in the smart way and the right way, to come back better,” Barkley said.

“If it’s not in the cards for me to me to do it, at least I know I can look myself in the mirror and know I put in the work ethic and I did the little things, and all the all the things that matter, to try to make myself become one of the best to do it.”