Giants RB Saquon Barkley again calls out haters, motivated to 'shut everyone up'

If running back Saquon Barkley is truly about to begin his final season as a member of the New York Giants, he's making it clear that he's going out swinging and with little, if anything, left unsaid. 

Health has been a big problem for Barkley over each of the past two campaigns. He suffered a torn ACL in Week 2 in September 2020, and he then missed time last fall with an ankle injury. Perhaps more worrisome, he accumulated just 593 rushing yards, 263 receiving yards and four offensive touchdowns across 13 games last season, and his performances left some criticizing a running style they deemed passive or even "soft." 

"But I know that’s been the conversation or been a thought or been a thing out there that’s said about me, 'He don’t know what he’s doing. He’s just dancing back there,'" Barkley recently responded to such takes. "I’m really kind of fed up with people who never played a position and try to speak on how I run a position. We call them 'All-Pros with clickers in their hand.'"

According to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, Barkley again let it be known during an appearance on "The 2ndWind Podcast" that he's using opinions voiced by haters and doubters as bulletin-board material this summer. 

"Do I feel like I’m back? I feel like I’m better," Barkley explained. "To be completely honest. I’m older now. I’m 25. I’ve been through some stuff, ups and downs. And now I’m in a situation where – you know me, I always have a mindset of always being counted out – but now it’s actually here. It’s actually real. People are really counting me out. People are trying to write me off. And I don’t really do it for the pleasure of others or making other people satisfied. I do it because I just want to be great. But now I have that extra motivation, the extra motivation to push me to go out there and kinda just be like you know what, shut everyone up."

The second-overall selection of the 2018 NFL Draft has seemingly embraced a "me versus everybody" mentality.

"Now it’s kill mindset," Barkley added during his comments. "Now it’s like, ya know what, f--- everybody. I’m ready to go crazy, and I’m gonna let the world feel me." 

Barkley is in the final year of his rookie contract and, like quarterback Daniel Jones, will enter September on a figurative hot seat as it pertains to his Giants tenure. General manager Joe Schoen was only hired by Big Blue this past winter and, thus, could let Barkley walk next year regardless of how the ball-carrier performs during the upcoming season.