Saquon Barkley, a familiar face at MetLife Stadium, returns on Sunday as the Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) travel to battle his former team, the New York Giants (2-4).
The number two pick in the 2018 draft by the Giants, spent six seasons in New York before signing with the Eagles in the offseason.
Giants Pro Bowl DT Dexter Lawrence, who played his entire career with Barkley, will get a shot to lay the wood on his former teammate.
“I’ve been against other guys that were here and then went somewhere else,” he said. “At the end of the day, to me, it’s football. You’ve got to beat whoever is in front of you, and this week it’s the Eagles. That’s the game plan. I’m excited to compete against Saquon (Barkley) for a full game. Just put my will on him a little bit.”
Of course, Lawrence will not shy away from some friendly ‘smack talk’ with his former teammate.
“There’s always trash-talking,” he said.
This season, Barkley has been a force to be reckoned with, rushing for 482 yards and four touchdowns on an impressive 5.3 yards per carry. Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen acknowledges the daunting task of stopping Barkley.
“Yeah, I’ve had experience in playing with him,” Bowen said. “Explosive. You give him space, he finds it. He’s made teams pay already this season on that. Got the ability to make the home run, hit the home run every time he has the ball in his hands. So, we’ve got to be disciplined. We’ve got to do a good job. We’ve got to get hats to the party. It’s going to be tough bringing him down with one guy. Big challenge for us.”
Stopping Barkley will be a challenge for the Giants, and he will want to show out against his former team; we’ll see if New York will be up for the challenge.
Leave a Reply