On Thursday night, the NFL world turns its attention to Kansas City, as the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs host the Houston Texans in the 2020 NFL season opener. Without any preseason action due to the coronavirus pandemic, Thursday’s game is the first taste of NFL football that fans have received since February’s Super Bowl.

But on Monday, Giants fans will get their first look at Joe Judge and the Giants, as they host the Pittsburgh Steelers in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football.

And Saquon Barkley knows just how important it is for fans to have NFL football back in their lives.

“I think it’s going to be amazing. … Football is a special sport, man. It’s a special sport. It brings people together,” Barkley said on Thursday afternoon. “You get to go out there and see 11 guys put it all on the line every single play.

“You see us go out there and put it all on the line, so it’s going to mean a lot. Obviously, there’s been some tough things going on around the world with the pandemic and obviously with the Black Lives Matter movement, but for us to be able to go out there and put on a show for everyone, all the fans – obviously we wish that they were there in the stands with us. Hopefully soon in the near future they are, but still be able to watch on TV and we’ll go out there and show them all the hard work that we’ve put in.”

And without a preseason, it’s difficult for Giants fans to know what to look for from this 2020 team. With Judge at the helm and former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett running the offense, expectations exist for Barkley and second-year QB Daniel Jones to take this offense to the next level.

Barkley, who has rushed for 2,310 combined yards in his first two seasons, isn’t ready to put a number out there as far as Giants 2020 wins are concerned, but he believes the team has adapted well under Judge and will continue to get better.

“You never can really just go out and predict or be like ‘This is how many wins we want, this is how many losses we’d like,’” Barkley said. “You can’t predict that, but the things you can handle is how you come to work every single day, and I think the approach that this team has taken and the response that we’ve taken to coach Judge’s methods has been great.

“Obviously, we’re a young team and there’s going to be some adversity we’re going to face throughout the season. There’s going to be some adversity that we’re going to face on Monday night, but it’s the way that we respond and the way that we continue to come to work and improve every single day.”

Popular in the Community