Saquon Barkley will avoid the knife, but his timeline for a return remains cloudy.

The verdict from the second opinion on the Giants running back’s high ankle sprain was that surgery will not be needed. Coach Pat Shurmur also said they are not currently considering putting Barkley on injured reserve.

“It’s been determined we just rehab him, get him ready to go, see how that plays out,” Shurmur said Thursday. “Obviously as coaches we have a short time horizon, so he won’t be available this week. We’ll just see at what point he is. I don’t want to put any time frame on how long it will take him to get back.”

Barkley visited Dr. Robert Anderson, a foot and ankle specialist, in Green Bay on Wednesday for a second opinion on the ankle he injured in Sunday’s win over the Buccaneers. But he did not come back with a firm time frame for his return, at least not one that Shurmur was willing to offer publicly.

The Post’s Paul Schwartz reported Barkley is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

“You never know how long some of these things take,” Shurmur said.

The Giants, though, will have to guard against Barkley trying to come back too soon.

“That’s part of Saquon’s charm is he’s competitive,” Shurmur said. “He’s going to try to do everything he can to come back quickly. Just like any time a player’s injured, there’s a process they have to go through and we’ll monitor it.”

In the interim, Wayne Gallman will get the start Sunday against the Redskins while rookie Jon Hilliman was signed from the practice squad Thursday to provide depth at the position. In a corresponding move, wide receiver Russell Shepard, who was in a walking boot for his sprained foot, was placed on injured reserve.

“Jon Hilliman has done a nice job for us through training camp,” Shurmur said. “We have him here because we feel like he’s got a chance to be a good player.”