Giants’ John Harbaugh Sends Clear Message to Cam Skattebo During Saints Loss

New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo saw his usage completely disappear in the team's Week 6 loss to the New Orleans Saints. And after the game, Giants head coach John Harbaugh made the harsh reality of the Giants current running back room quite clear.

Prior to Sunday's game, reports emerged that the Giants would be starting veteran running back Najee Harris over Skattebo, and that the team would be taking a "running back by committee" approach.

This report was certainly an understatement. The Giants ultimately used all four running backs on their active roster in the game. But Skattebo found himself as the odd man out in terms of the opportunities to see the football.

For the first time in his career, Skattebo did not receive a single carry. For reference, 14 of the 20 rushing attempts from the Giants came from running backs, with Najee Harris, Devin Singletary, and Tyrone Tracy all seeing working in the running game.

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Naturally, John Harbaugh was asked about Skattebo's sudden lack of work on offense following the game. And his answer made it clear that while he didn't deliberately attempt to bench Skattebo, he was looking for a spark given that he believes that nobody has stood out in the Giants backfield.

"All those guys were taking equal reps in the first half," said Harbaugh. "We were trying to see who could make something happen. You get a hot hand and earn it. Nobody is really taking the bull by the horns. Motor (Singletary) really hasn't gotten a chance to take the bull by the horns. So we thought we would get him in the mix too. With the four guys up, see if you can get something going in the running game. That was the idea.

"Second half, we come out and we are down by a bunch. After the first series, we kind of go into a no-huddle type deal. That's when you use your third-down backs. That's just the way it went. It wasn't by design for him not to carry the ball. When he was in there, we just didn't call any runs. You are not thinking about which back is in the game and how many runs they are getting."

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Despite Harbaugh's assurance that Skattebo wasn't benched deliberately, it is quite jarring to see someone like Skattebo, who has had double-digit carries in every game this season prior to Week 6, just simply not get a single rushing opportunity.

One major flaw that Skattebo has had this season is issues protecting the football, fumbling four times through the team's first five games. Maybe this was in the back of Harbaugh's mind when he opted to keep Skattebo on the sidelines for most of Sunday's game.

Regardless, it will certainly be interesting to see how Skattebo is utilized moving forward. His next chance to make more of an impact for the Giants will come in Week 7 when the Giants take on the Houston Texans.