Giants vs 49ers NFL Odds Line Movement with Barkley Not Expected to Play
Running back Saquon Barkley, who went down with an ankle injury during the New York Giants' 31-28 comeback victory against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, hasn't been ruled out by his coach for Thursday night's showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.
The initial prognostication was that Barkley would likely be out for 3-4 weeks.
The Giants opened as 10-point underdogs for Thursday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers. That line moved down to 9.5 after news of Barkley's injury.
But during a news conference on Tuesday, Giants coach Brian Daboll told reporters he hasn't ruled out his star running back for this week.
"I'm not saying that he's out yet," Daboll said when a reporter suggested the Giants would be without Barkley against the 49ers. "He's a quick healer. I'm not saying he's in, he's out. We're going to take it all the way up with him to Thursday."
Daboll said that Barkley was already "a lot better than I thought he would be or some other people thought he would be." The prognosis suggests that Barkley might be dealing with a low-ankle sprain, which tends to heal faster than a high-ankle sprain.
Still, with a short week for the Giants, it seems unlikely Barkley will be ready to play by Thursday.
"We'll just take it day to day with him and if he can make it, great," Daboll said. "If he can't, we'll see if he can get better by the following week."
Matt Breida, Gary Brightwell and Eric Gray will carry the load if Barkley isn't able to go for the Giants.
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