Saquon Barkley exits injury report, but will he play?

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He was supposed to be out up to eight weeks. He’s back in four. But will he really be back?

The Giants have removed running back Saquon Barkley from the final Week Seven injury report. However, coach Pat Shurmur won’t commit to actually playing Barkley on Sunday.

“He’s available,” Shurmur said, via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. “We’ll see if he’s back. If he is, he’ll be ready to go. I just choose not to tell you right now.”

Tight end Evan Engram also has exited the injury report. However, Shurmur wouldn’t say whether Engram will play.

“I’m not playing games,” Shurmur said.

So what’s he doing, then? Both players are listed as starter’s on the team’s online depth chart, and both are off the injury report. The clear implication is that they’ll play.

Is he hoping to create a false drama that will drive traffic to the team’s official website and/or Twitter account? Is he simply trying to be difficult because he can? Or is he just reacting to the pressure he’s feeling as the Giants face a must-win game against the Cardinals?

And he’s surely feeling the pressure. Through 22 regular-season games as the coach of the Giants, Shurmur has managed to keep his head low and mouth shut while others like Eli Manning, Dave Gettleman, and John Mara attracted scrutiny and criticism. With the Giants only one game out of first place in the NFC East, a blown opportunity to pull into a tie with the loser of the Eagles-Cowboys game could result in more people asking whether what would become a 7-16 record is better or worse than Ben McAdoo’s 13-16 performance in fewer than two years on the job.

Last Thursday night, Shurmur opted to punt on fourth and 2 from his own 33 while trailing by 14 with 7:08 to go, an obvious effort to impress drive-by fans who make judgments based not on a quick glance at the final score. He rightfully was criticized for conceding possession in the hopes of losing by only 14 points. (It didn’t work.)

More criticism could be coming his way if the team, which has played well in games it was supposed to lose, can’t prevail in games it is supposed to win. The challenge begins with the Cardinals on Sunday, and it continues with a game at Detroit, a home game against Dallas, and then a pre-bye cross-stadium showdown with the Jets.