NY Giants legend reveals why he's worried about Yankees' Aaron Judge

Retired New York Giants running back Tiki Barber explained why he's worried about New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge as Judge recovers from a lingering toe issue. 

"A toe is not a part of your body that you can get off of and try to stay in shape," Barber said about Judge during Monday's edition of the WFAN "Tiki and Tierney" program, per Audacy. "This is a big problem. I just hope when he does come back and starts to feel better, in his mind, he’s not psychologically trying to protect it. That’s what happens. That’s what happened to me…I jacked up my toe. Deion Sanders (then of the Dallas Cowboys), in 1999, jumped on my back and twisted my toe and it probably tore a ligament or something, but I played through it and the swelling, and it calcified, and now I have this big bunion on my toe." 

As mentioned by the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, Barber dealt with toe problems on multiple occasions during his NFL career from 1997 through the 2006 season and, thus, has an idea about what Judge has experienced since the 31-year-old first suffered what had been called a ligament sprain and contusion on his big right toe back on June 3. 

While Judge revealed this past Saturday that he has a torn ligament in his toe, MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post later pointed out that a tear technically "isn’t at all a change in the original diagnosis of a sprained right great toe." 

Heyman added that "one Yankees person...guessed Judge could be back a week or two after the All-Star break," which ends for New York when the club opens a series at the Colorado Rockies on July 14. Barber sounded unconvinced about such an optimistic timeline regarding the return of the reigning American League Most Valuable Player. 

"If I was trying to hit a baseball, that’s gonna change my feel…baseball is a precision sport," Barber continued about Judge's toe. "This is worrisome." 

The Yankees went 4-6 when Judge was sidelined with a right hip strain earlier this season and have gone 8-10 during his latest stint on the injured list. Four of New York's most recent victories came across the past six games, which is encouraging considering the four-time All-Star selection hasn't yet resumed baseball activities. 

The Yankees next begin a three-game series at the Oakland Athletics (20-60) on Tuesday night and went into Monday's MLB action trailing the first-place Tampa Bay Rays by nine-and-a-half games in the AL East standings. 43-35 New York sat in a wild-card playoff spot at that time. 

As for Judge, he's batting .291 with 19 home runs, 40 RBI and a 1.078 OPS in 49 games this season.