Cam Skattebo says he understands why he was kept out of the New York Giants’ backfield, but his head coach, John Harbaugh, said there was no punishment at all. After a 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, the Giants running back and Harbaugh gave conflicting accounts of why Skattebo never touched the ball, one week after he fumbled in overtime of a 27-27 tie with the Washington Commanders. Skattebo played six snaps and finished with zero carries or targets, the first time in his career he was active for a game without a touch.
When asked whether his limited role was punishment, Skattebo didn’t hesitate. "Yeah, of course. I didn’t expect to have zero, but I was expecting to not play as much, just like I did," Skattebo told reporters.
"The message was, keep your head down and keep going. They understand the type of player I am, and I just have to continue to do my job and do it to the best of my ability." Skattebo also took responsibility for the fumbles. "Yeah, it’s hard, but I’ve made mistakes, and I have to own up to them," Skattebo said.
"I can’t make mistakes at this level of this game, and when you make mistakes like that, consequences have to be made." Harbaugh framed it differently. When he was asked about benching Skattebo, he pointed to a four-man rotation and a game that got away from the Giants. "We were trying to see who could get a hot hand and earn it," Harbaugh said.
"Second half, we come out, we’re down by a bunch, and after the first series, we go into kind of a no-huddle deal, and that’s where you start using your third-down guys. It wasn’t by design for him not to carry the ball. When he was in there, we didn’t call any runs." The Saints scored 34 straight points behind four touchdowns from quarterback Tyler Shough, and the Giants ran for just 84 yards.
Tyrone Tracy Jr. had six carries to lead the running backs, and Najee Harris had four for two yards. When asked why Skattebo was on the field for only six snaps, Harbaugh said the work was being divided among four backs. "Do the math," Harbaugh said.
"You can say, ‘Well, I don’t like you divvying up the snaps between four backs.’ I can tell you, I don’t like it either. One of those guys needs to step up. Somebody needs to step up and be the back.
And none of those guys have done that yet." Harbaugh went on to say he had already answered whether the decision was a byproduct of the fumbling. "That’s the best answer you could ever get on that in 1,000 years," Harbaugh said. "If you’re not thrilled with that answer, I got nothing else for you." The Giants visit the Houston Texans next Sunday, where Skattebo could get a chance to earn his role back.
