The Giants did not bench Cam Skattebo in New York's 34-27 loss against the New Orleans Saints, coach John Harbaugh reiterated during Sunday's postgame news conference, but the running back's workload was nonexistent one week after a costly fumble that led to Week 5's 27-27 tie with the Washington Commanders.
"(Not giving Skattebo carries) was not by design," Harbaugh said. "All those guys were taking equal reps in the first half. We were trying to see who could make something happen, who could kind of get a hot hand and earn it. Nobody's really taken the bull by the horns. Motor (Devin Singletary) really hadn't had the chance to take the bull by the horns, so we thought we'd get him in the mix, too. 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. Second half, now we come out and we're down by a bunch and after the first series we go into kind of a no-huddle-type deal and that's where you start using your third-down guys and that's just the way it went. So, it wasn't by design for him not to carry the ball. It's just, when he was in there, we didn't call any runs.
"So, you're thinking about which back is in the game and how many runs they're getting. It's we're going to give them all an equal shot, give 'em a chance, see who got a hot hand maybe, see who could get going with it and we weren't planning on being down 24 -- that's for sure."
Skattebo was punished for his turnover last Sunday, he said, but understood why the Giants (3-2-1) abandoned the run game against the Saints (2-4) while a 10-10 halftime tie transformed into a 34-10 deficit.
"I think we kind of just moved away from it," Skattebo said. "Early, it just wasn't hitting right. And then as the game went on, we were down, we were behind. And the run game stops when the game's behind. So, it's hard to continue to run the ball when you're down. ... So, we've just got to get back to our roles, what we do and continue to work hard."
New York's non-Skattebo running backs -- Najee Harris, Tyrone Tracy and Singletary -- combined for 34 yards on 14 rushes.
"They kind of told us what the situation was coming into today," said Tracy, whose five-yard touchdown with seven minutes left started the Giants' comeback while cutting the Saints' lead to 34-18 after New York's successful two-point attempt. "They told us that we were all going to play. We didn't know, touches-wise, who's going to get the ball and whatnot.
"But at the end of the day, whoever's out there, you better go produce -- and that's the bottom line. If you're out there, in the running back room, and they give you the ball, and it touches your hands, you've got to go do something with it."
After a question about Skattebo's playing time decreasing with six snaps, Harbaugh pushed back and challenged one of the running backs to step up.
"You're balancing between four guys," Harbaugh said. "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.
"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. They know that, too. And believe me, they're all hungry. They want to step up. One of those guys wants to step up. Somebody's going to step up and take that job. We're going to see who it is."
Harbaugh reiterated his stance when he was asked about Skattebo's fumbling.
"I think it's been pretty clear, the whole story," Harbaugh said. "I mean, there's really more -- I don't even know what else to say. I mean, that's like -- that's the best answer you could ever get on that in a thousand years. There's not a coach in the world that would give you a better answer than that. If you're not thrilled with that answer, I've got nothing else for you. Honestly."