The first time Brian Daboll coached the Giants without Saquon Barkley, the offense ran the ball fewer times than in any other game during Taylor Swift’s lifetime.
Yes, 1989 is both the birth year of Swift — the pop icon whose relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce is the biggest story in sports — and the last time the Giants abandoned the run as much as they did last week.
The Giants likely will get another look at what their offense looks like without their top playmaker Monday because Barkley (high ankle sprain) is listed as doubtful to play against the Seahawks.
But he is trying to fight his way into the lineup despite the business risks that come with exposing himself to further injury in the final year of his contract.
“The reality of it is that if I can go — if my body is telling me to go out there and play — then, yeah, that is what I’d like to do,” Barkley said. “But … say if some people were in this situation where they don’t have a contract behind them and they are doing it for business reasons, I respect that, too. Probably is a smart thing to do, to be honest.
“But that is not really in my makeup and how I view it. I don’t judge anybody if they do that, but for me if my body is able to go, that’s when I’ll go.”
Barkley injured his ankle playing his 66th of the first 67 offensive snaps when he scored two touchdowns and sparked a 21-point comeback win on Sept. 17 against the Cardinals.
Four days later, the one-dimensional Giants ran 11 times for 29 yards in a loss to the 49ers.
No Barkley, no coincidence?
“He never wants to come out of the game,” offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said. “He’s a competitor — that’s what we love about him. Guys like that …. want to be involved and want the ball. You want players like that, and Saquon is definitely one of those.”
The Giants’ ineffectiveness with Matt Breida, Eric Gray and Gary Brightwell suggests it might not be as simple as treating all running backs as disposable parts.
Barkley, who Daboll hopes will be a game-time decision after warmups, could be the key to avoiding a dreaded 1-3 start.
“We know Saquon is valuable to our offense,” Daboll said. “Any time you are missing a good player, you miss a good player.”
Barkley’s participation in individual drills during practice this week was a step forward, but players do not usually play without practicing 11-on-11 periods.
“I think I’m doing way better than what a lot of people would expect,” Barkley said. “Especially talking to doctors, I’m further along. But it’s frustrating because I’m healing fast, but you want it to be faster. Every day it’s getting better and better and trending up.”
The past two games combined seemed to reinforce an argument made during offseason contract negotiations that Barkley is more valuable because of the way the Giants are constructed than most top running backs are to their offenses.
Barkley and the Giants couldn’t find middle ground in offseason extension talks, and he is playing on a one-year, $10.1 million deal.
“It’s much easier game-planning against the Giants if Saquon doesn’t play,” one opposing player told The Post. “He impacts them so many ways — even without the ball in his hands.”
Barkley missed three games with an ankle sprain in 2019 and four with a high ankle sprain in 2021, sandwiched around the 14 missed due to a torn ACL in 2020.
In all cases, it took him a few games before rounding back into top form.
“That doesn’t go through my mind, like ‘Oh, I came back too soon,’ ” Barkley said.
Injury history is a reason that Barkley did not receive the extension he was seeking.
But he opted against leveraging a training-camp holdout and showing the Giants what they were missing into a bigger contract than the $900,000 in incentives — all of which essentially will be out of reach if he misses another game — that he received to report on time.
The Chargers’ Austin Ekeler (two games missed) and Colts’ Jonathan Taylor (will miss at least four) don’t seem to be rushing back from ankle injuries after offseason contract disputes in the tanking running back market.
“At the end of the day, it’s my life,” Barkley said. “I make the decisions. I love this game. So I’m trying my best.”
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