New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh had a number of things to answer for after his team lost at home to the struggling New Orleans Saints. The biggest thing he was asked about was the lack of touches for star running back Cam Skattebo, and he was not happy to receive those questions to say the least.
When asked to address Skattebo’s lack of carries today, Harbaugh denied having “benched” Skattebo and said that his lack of snaps wasn’t by design. He then explained that he doesn’t see any running backs that have stepped up yet so he’s trying to figure things out.
That answer didn’t seem to satisfy the New York media, which seemed to get Harbaugh heated.
“I don’t know what else to say. That’s the best answer you can ever get on that in 1,000 years. There’s not a coach in the world that will give you a better answer than that. If you’re not thrilled with that answer, I got nothing else for you, honestly,” Harbaugh said, via Ari Meirov.
Not good enough.
As much as many fans love seeing John Harbaugh rip the media apart, the act gets stale when it’s in response to questions that actually matter. Many fans that support Harbaugh admitted that they weren’t satisfied by Harbaugh’s answer about Skattebo.
“If you’re trying to figure out who your RB1 is, than at least have Cam Skattebo get some sort of snaps. Can’t lie, I don’t like this answer,” one Giants fan replied on X.
“John Harbaugh just absolutely embarrassing himself and the Giants organization here… Cam Skattebo is your RB1 and he got ZERO carries, now you are saying he was NOT benched? Why are treating us all like idiots? You aren’t smart, you couldn’t even make the Playoffs last season with Lamar & King Henry, couldn’t beat 50 year old Aaron Rodgers with the whole season on the line, this power tripping is insane and cringe,” wrote another.
“I mean this is just a terrible response. Harbaugh is a great coach and that is very clear. But when you have the worst rushing week you’ve had all season and Skattebo doesn’t have a single carry, pretty sure that’s why,” a third wrote.
The Giants are now 3-2-1 and just half a game off of their total wins for all of last season. But if Harbaugh is going to have issues at running back moving forward, when the run game has generally been the defining trait of his best teams, getting wins could continue to be a challenge for the former Super Bowl winner.
They play the Houston Texans on the road next week and have only one road win over the past two years.
