Giants’ Saquon Barkley praises Daniel Jones after taking snaps vs Bears: ‘He’s a tough you know what’

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley has been a strong point in Brian Daboll’s offense this season, but on Sunday he became the focal point when quarterbacks Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor went down with injuries late in the second half of the game, ultimately resulting in a nerve-wracking victory.

With both quarterbacks being sidelined with injuries within 10 minutes of one another, the Giants turned to their star running back to lead a wildcat offense while Jones, who suffered an ankle injury, lined up as a receiver so that he could relay the plays to the offense.

“When I saw Tyrod go down, I kind of realized, ‘Oh, I’m up next. I’m the quarterback,’” Barkley told reporters after the 20-12 victory. “First of all, you have to give credit to DJ coming back in the game. I can’t curse — he’s a tough you know what. Nothing but respect for him to go in and continue to fight through that for his team just shows you the type of person and type of player he is.”

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Barkley took snaps directly from center Jon Feliciano, helping the Giants rush for 262 yards.

“You don’t want to be in that situation but the way that the coaches reacted – brought us all in, started drawing it up. It felt like you’re back as a little kid in the backyard playing football,” Barkley said of the game plan. 

“Like you were 8 years old playing with your friends on Sunday, getting ready. You’re just drawing it up. ‘I’m the quarterback, this is what we are going to do; this is how we’re going to do it,’ and go out there.”

Barkley rushed for 146 yards on 31 attempts, and the Giants avoided disaster after a chaotic scene in the final seconds of the game that included about 10 laterals before eventually ending on the Bears’ 29-yard line.

“The biggest thing, it just shows how gritty this team is,” Barkley said. “I love all those guys in the locker room and the way that we come in and fight for each other.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.