The New York Giants running back room has everyone's attention following an essential benching of their star player and cutting another after he criticized the run game.
Cam Skattebo leads the Giants in rushing yards with 294 yards on 81 carries, but in last week's 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints, he wasn't given a single rushing attempt. It marked the first time in his two-year NFL career that he didn't touch the ball once in a game he played in. His limited snaps and lack of opportunities were a response to his costly fumble during overtime in the team's Week 5 27-27 tie against the Washington Commanders.
The running back room also saw the departure of Najee Harris, whom the Giants cut days after he started in place of Skattebo. Harris drew headlines for his criticism of the New York run game, expressing confusion over the game plan. Harris finished his short Giants tenure with 31 rushing attempts for 99 yards in five games.
"Nobody's safe, it's as simple as that," Skattebo said on Friday. "And I think when we go on the field, and we perform, if we're not performing, we understand there's a possibility of not being here. And if I don't perform, I know there's a possibility of me not being here."
Skattebo seemed to take what was essentially a soft benching well, saying he can learn from it.
"I got taught a lesson," he said. "I don't know if that's from them or from myself. I had to kind of step back and look at it and figure out why. Why I was doing the things I was doing, what was happening. Came to practice, worked on those things, corrected them. Ready to go back out there and play ball."
This was similar to his locker-room commentary after Sunday's game.
"I got punished for what I did [in last week's tie]," Skattebo said. "I understand it. I gotta be ready when coach calls my name and that wasn't today... I didn't expect to have zero [touches], but I was expecting to not play as much like I did."
The Giants are in Houston to face the Texans on Sunday.
