New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh denied that the coaches had decided to bench running back Cam Skattebo, who has had a bit of a fumbling problem of late, in the team’s 34-27 Week 6 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
But they might as well have benched him, considering Skattebo didn’t get a single touch, either as a rusher or receiver, in the game.
“It was not by design. All those guys were taking equal reps in the first half. We were trying to see who could make something happen, who could get a hot hand and earn it. Nobody has really taken the bull by the horns,” Harbaugh insisted.
“So, we put four guys up and see if we can get something going with the running game. That was the idea. They were all pretty equal, I think, in the first half.”
But that wasn’t quite the case. Skattebo, one of those four, didn’t see a single ball come his way, and he was limited to six snaps on offense.
“You’re balancing between four guys. Do the math. How many plays were there? And that was our plan. Now you can argue that. You can say, well, I don’t like that. I don’t like you divvying up the snaps between four backs. And 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. And when one of those guys steps up to be the back, then they’ll be the back. That’s your answer. And that’s as honest as I can be about it.”
After the game, Skattebo didn’t quite see things the same way, though he took the high road of accountability.
“I got punished for what I did, and I understand,” he said, referring to his fumbling issue, which last week cost the Giants a chance to win their game against Washington. “So I got to be ready when coach calls my name, and that wasn’t today.”
While Skattebo knew his reps would be reduced, he didn’t know by how much.
“I didn’t expect to have zero (carries),” he said. “I was expecting not to play as much, just like I did. And the message was, you know, keep your head down; I gotta keep going, you know. They understand the type of player I am, and I gotta continue to do my job and do it to the best of my ability.”
Skattebo admitted that being involved in the offense was hard, but he reiterated that he understood where the coaches were coming from.
“I’ve made mistakes, and I gotta own up to them,” he said. “And if that is what they wanna do is keep me on the sidelines because of that, I totally understand. You know, I can’t make mistakes at this level of this game. And when you make mistakes like that, there are consequences to be made.”
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