Saquon Barkley willing to do what it takes

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Saquon Barkley has lost patience for outsiders who question his running style. Or, in his words, he is “fed up.”

The Giants’ fifth year back has been questioned for sometimes running to the side or taking a handoff and then hesitating before pushing his way forward. Some of that that is due to the paucity of defined holes resulting from the team’s issues on the offensive line. Barkley has often searched in vain for daylight.

Coach Brian Daboll, reviewing the running backs’ performance a day after the preseason opener last week in New England, said of Barkley’s four-carry outing, “I thought he hit the ball downhill, didn’t dance.”

Barkley was asked if there has “been a conscious effort for you to get north and south and get the ball upfield?” That lit a fuse on what has clearly been a simmering issue for Barkley.

“No. To be honest, that’s just part of my game,” he said. “As a running back, understanding the scheme. Understanding what I got to do. This is probably the last time I’m going to speak on this, I know people want to say, ‘Dancing and he don’t get north and south.’ But I’m not just going to run into any of my linemen’s back. That’s not how I play the game. That’s how I’ve been playing since I was eight years old. I’ve been playing this position for a very long time, and by no means am I the perfect running back, and I still got so much work to do.

“But I know that’s been the conversation or been a thought or been a thing out there that’s said about me it, ‘He don’t know what he’s doing. He’s just dancing back there.’ I’m really kind of fed up with people who never played a position try to speak on how I run a position. We call them all pros with clickers in their hand. Running back is a tough position, but it’s easy to be there and watch football and watch on T.V. or even watch on film and stop the clicker and say, ‘Oh, he should’ve made that cut.’ There’s a lot of things that go into making that cut. There’s a lot of things like your shoulders being square. There’s a lot of things that have an impact on your vision. So, but the coaches have to make a point of emphasis a running style that we have as a team and a mentality that we have as a team. And like I said, I’m going to do whatever coach wants me to do. And that’s been my focus, trying to be the best running back I can for this team.”

Barkley said Daboll and the offensive coaches do not instruct him to refrain from dancing.

“When he says, ‘Get north and south,’ he’s…