Giants RB Cam Skattebo Exits Practice After Hit From Arvell Reese, Harbaugh Downplays Injury
Cam Skattebo’s return to full health hit a scare Friday. The New York Giants running back left training camp practice early after a collision with rookie linebacker Arvell Reese, and for a few tense minutes, it looked like New York’s backfield plans could take another hit before the season even starts.
Skattebo went down after the hit, then spent several minutes stretching his left leg on the sideline. He didn’t return to team drills, but he also wasn’t carted off or taken to the locker room — a detail reporters on-site flagged as a good sign. According to Yahoo Sports, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan was the first to report the collision, writing that Skattebo “went down after a collision with LB Arvell Reese” and “didn’t return to practice but remained on sideline.”
Giants head coach John Harbaugh addressed the injury after practice wrapped, and he wasn’t sweating it. Speaking with reporters at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, where the Giants are running camp this summer, Darryl Slater of NJ.com reported that Harbaugh said Skattebo isn’t dealing with anything serious and is simply still working his way back from last year’s ankle injury.
“He’s probably working through the football shape part of it,” Harbaugh said, per NJ.com. “He’s coming off of rehab, so that’s what that was. It won’t be a serious injury at all.”
Worth noting: this is a different leg. Skattebo’s rookie season ended last October when he suffered a dislocated right ankle, a fractured fibula, and a ruptured deltoid ligament in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Friday’s issue was with his left leg. Per The Athletic’s Dan Duggan, relayed by Bolavip, Skattebo appeared to be favoring his hamstring rather than dealing with any structural issue tied to last year’s surgery.
Skattebo wasn’t the only Giant banged up on the play. Center John Michael Schmitz also walked off early after a hard hit, and edge rusher Brian Burns got dinged up as well, though neither appeared serious. New York Daily News reporter Pat Leonard relayed Harbaugh’s full rundown: Schmitz “got his bell rung,” Burns is managing a minor ankle issue, and Skattebo’s situation is tied to conditioning, not a new structural injury.
Why the Giants can’t afford to lose Skattebo again
Context matters here. Skattebo was one of the more productive rookies in football before his injury last year — a fourth-round pick out of Arizona State who forced his way into the Giants’ backfield mix and became a fan favorite for his physical running style. Through eight games, he racked up 410 rushing yards, 207 receiving yards and seven total touchdowns before the Eagles game ended his season.
He’s spent the offseason rehabbing that injury, and by all accounts the recovery has gone well. He participated fully in minicamp in June and has reportedly looked like the Giants’ lead back through the early part of camp, sharing reps with and pushing ahead of Tyrone Tracy Jr., who stepped into the RB1 role and ran for 740 yards after Skattebo went down last season.
That’s exactly why Friday’s scare rattled some nerves in West Virginia, even briefly. New head coach John Harbaugh, hired in January after nearly two decades leading the Baltimore Ravens, has leaned heavily into building a physical run game this summer, and a healthy Skattebo is central to that plan heading into Week 1.
What’s next for Skattebo
Barring any setback, Skattebo remains on track to be ready for the Giants’ regular-season opener — a Sunday Night Football matchup at home against the Dallas Cowboys. Giants training camp at The Greenbrier wraps up Saturday before the team heads back to New Jersey to prepare for its preseason opener against the Minnesota Vikings on Aug. 15.
Tracy remains the Giants’ clear No. 2 option in the backfield if Skattebo needs any time to manage the injury, giving New York a workable fallback even as it hopes its top back avoids any further absence.
