With the 2-8 New York Giants going nowhere and star running back Saquon Barkley still dealing with the after effects of a high ankle sprain, the consensus from fans and pundits is that the Giants should either severely limit – or even bench – Barkley until he’s fully recovered to avoid further damage.

His performance against the Jets on Sunday (13 carries for 1 yard) has everyone wondering if Barkley is hurting more than the team is letting on and many would like to see Barkley play closer to 100% than what they’re seeing out of him now.

That isn’t going over well with Barkley and head coach Pat Shurmur, who have scoffed at the notion of putting the Pro Bowler on the shelf.

“I do not agree with that idea at all. One, that’s not fair to my teammates and, two, when you say running backs have so many carries, yes, the average career length of a running back is not as long as other players,” Barkley told reporters on Tuesday.

“The mindset of sitting me out and resting me for the rest of the season is beyond me. I do not agree with it and it won’t happen. I’m going to keep going until I can’t go anymore. That’s the type of player I am and I’m going to do it for my teammates.”

Giants’ Ring of Honoree Tiki Barber, the Giants’ all-time leading rusher. agrees Barkley needs to stay on the field.

From TMZ Sports:

When we saw Tiki in NYC — the best running back in franchise history — we asked him if Giants brass should force Barkley to hang up his cleats until next season. His answer … hell no. “I don’t think they should shut him down. I think that would be detrimental to his psyche, ’cause he wants to be out there playing,” Barber tells us. “I think limiting his carries might be smart going forward. Get Wayne Gallman some runs, and try to keep as healthy as possible.” When asked if he had any intention of shutting Barkley down for the season, Shurmur was pretty sure of his answer.

“Absolutely not,” he told reporters on a conference call on Monday. That doesn’t mean they won’t curtail his usage though. Barkley believes his recovery will accelerate with the Giants heading into their bye week.

“This week, I’m going to focus on watching film and obviously the opportunities we get in practice, take advantage, like watching film of myself,’ he said. “The time we do get off, I get to spend time with my family, I get to spend time with my teammates. When I come back, after that game, I can get back to who I am and have that mindset, no matter what happened the first half of the season, last week, I am the best player on the field and when I touch the ball I make things happen. I’m going to get back to that. ”