New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo thrives on emotion. You can bet he will be filled with it Thursday night against the Washington Commanders.
Skattebo was held out of Sunday’s division game against the Philadelphia Eagles because of his hamstring injury. That was at Lincoln Financial Field, the place where he dislocated his ankle a season ago. Thursday’s game will be in the national spotlight, and we know Skattebo loves that.
Oh, and this will be the Giants’ first game since their heavily-publicized
pursuit of Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor failed at the NFL trade deadline.
So, yeah, Skattebo will have plenty of emotional fuel to pour on the fire on Thursday.
Skattebo seemed unbothered by the Taylor pursuit when media spoke to him on Tuesday shortly before the trade deadline expired.
“I know who I am and I know what I’m capable of when I get on the football field,” Skattebo told Steve Serby of the New York Post. “Whether they were thinking about it or not, it doesn’t bother me. I know I’m here, I’m healthy, and I’m ready to play football, that’s it.”
Skattebo leads the Giants with 418 rushing yards on 98 carries, 4.3 yards per attempt.
Skattebo’s last game, Week 7 against the Houston Texans was the first 100-yard game of his career. It also included his longest run, a 42-yarder.
The second-year running back understood the pursuit of Taylor. Prior to his Week 7 breakout, Skattebo had five straight games of 60 or fewer rushing yards. As a team, the Giants are 24th in the NFL at 3.9 yards per carry. By Expected Points Added (EPA) per rush, the Giants are 22nd in the league at -0.10.
They are a rush-first team that, despite being in first place in the NFC East, has not consistently run the ball the way they need to.
“I would be skeptical too if my running back was going for 60 yards a game and not really exploding out,” Skattebo said.
“But I’m still getting comfortable, man. This is like my 13th game [11 starts] in the league. I’m not even through a full football season yet. You obviously can see I’m getting more comfortable as I play the game. Houston [124 yards on 17 carries] kinda proved that.
“When I come out and I’m ready to play football on any given night, I can be one of the most dangerous backs in the league. Simple as that.”
