Although Barkley could not be on the field, Shurmur said it was still a beneficial three days for the young back.

"Anything you see, you can learn from, and this isn't the first time a guy tweaked a hamstring," Shurmur said. "So no, it's very important to watch."

What did Barkley get out of it?

"Just learned that you could still be a leader, even though you're not on the field," he said. "Continue to stay vocal, continue to stay active and focus on the objective and understand the play calls, know what you're doing and watching the backs, see how they set up runs and learn from the good things and learn from the bad."

After they play tomorrow night, the Giants will have two preseason games remaining before the regular-season opener against Jacksonville on Sept. 9. Because he's an NFL newcomer, does Barkley need to play in those games to be ready for Week 1?

"I think a lot of people say yeah," he said. "Obviously, I'm going to say yeah, because I'm a student of the game, and anytime you take more reps in game it's going to prepare you more. I do think we do a great job here, obviously going against the Lions or going against our defense, getting real good game looks in. Even though I'm not able to participate on the field today, it's still an opportunity for me to learn and opportunity for me to get better and prepare myself for the next I'm able to play."

Barkley knows he can't rush back and play before he's completely healed. And in case he's tempted to try, Beckham has some friendly advice for him.

"Mine was a strain; I think he kind of pulled it, so thank God I didn't pull mine," Barkley said. "He's saying that those are things that could linger on, too, and you got to be in the weight room, you got to be in the training room, you got to attack it. You got to take care of yourself and take it day by day."

"Like I told him, just take your time," Beckham said. "There's nothing you need to prove to any of us, there's nothing you need to prove to anybody. You know what you're capable of, I know what you're capable of, we know what you're capable of, it's just about getting healthy.