Why didn’t Giants RB Cam Skattebo tally a carry vs. Saints? ‘I got punished for what I did’ | Latest NFL News, Analysis & Updates

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo entered Sunday’s game with 81 carries to his name in 2026. He left Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints with the exact same tally.

For the first time in his NFL career, Skattebo didn’t touch the ball one time in 60 minutes. He saw the field Sunday — though not in the second half — but never got the chance to make an impact on the game.

What happened? It’s pretty simple, Skattebo said afterward.

“I got punished for what I did,” a frustrated Skattebo said in the postgame locker room after the Giants’ 34-27 defeat. “I understand it, so I gotta be ready when coach calls my name, and that wasn’t (Sunday).”

What Skattebo did, of course, was cough up a brutal fumble last Sunday, when the Giants had a chance to beat the Washington Commanders in overtime. The fumble likely cost the Giants a win, and it probably should have resulted in a loss, if not for Washington’s late-game meltdown. It was also Skattebo’s fourth fumble of the season, though it was only the one the Giants lost possession.

Still, it was enough for coach John Harbaugh and the Giants to significantly reduce Skattebo’s role in this Sunday’s game plan.

After the game, Harbaugh insisted the Giants did not bench Skattebo and that he didn’t receive zero carries “by design.”

“All of (our running backs) were taking equal reps in the first half, and we were trying to see who could make something happen, who could kind of get a hot hand and earn it. Nobody’s really taking the bull by the horns.”

“When he was in there, we didn’t call any runs.”

The reduced role didn’t catch Skattebo by surprise. He was told ahead of time that veteran Najee Harris (four carries, two yards) was getting the start on Sunday, but he didn’t anticipate not getting any touches. Not that Skattebo was complaining. While he was frustrated that he barely saw the field, he said he has no one to blame for that but himself.

“I’ve made mistakes, and I got to own up to them,” Skattebo said. “And if that is what they want to do, is keep me on the sidelines because of that, I totally understand. I can’t make mistakes at this level of this game, and when you make mistakes like that, consequences (happen).

“Did I know it was going to go from 50 snaps to five snaps? No. But if that’s what it is, that’s what it is.”

Perhaps Skattebo’s “punishment” will ultimately have Harbaugh’s desired effect, but in the meantime, the Giants’ running game remains a track wreck. The Giants rushed for just 84 yards on Sunday, and 50 of those were accounted for by quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy (26 yards), Jameis Winston (four yards) and wide receiver Darnell Mooney (20 yards). New York’s running backs (Harris, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary) combined for just 14 carries for 34 yards (2.4 YPC) — the position room’s worst output of the season by a wide margin.

What’s worse is that the lackluster performance came against a Saints run defense that entered the day ranked 30th in rushing yards per game allowed, 26th in yards per carry allowed, 26th in defensive rushing EPA and 32nd in defensive rushing success rate.

Despite the easier matchup, the Giants couldn’t get anything going on the ground in the first half and had to all but abandon the run in the second half, as the team tried to erase what ultimately ballooned to a 34-10 deficit.

“Second half, we come out, and now we’re down by a bunch,” Harbaugh said, whose running backs tallied just six carries in the second half. “And after the first series, we go into kind of a no-huddle type deal. And that’s where you start using your third-down guys. And that’s just the way it went.”

Outside of what’s going to happen at the quarterback position, one of the biggest questions facing the Giants now is: What happened to their running game? The 2025 Giants weren’t exactly a standout rushing team, but they still averaged 4.3 yards per carry and produced a 37.7 percent rushing success rate. The 2026 Giants are all the way down at 3.8 yards per carry and an abysmal 32.9 percent rushing success rate (26th in the NFL with two games left to go in Week 6).

Obviously, losing a dual-threat QB like Jaxson Dart at the start of the season doesn’t help their cause, but he’s not coming back this season. Perhaps McCarthy — if he becomes the Giants’ starter — can help inject some energy into what is currently a lifeless run game, but what the Giants really need is one of their running backs to emerge.

“One of those guys needs to step up,” Harbaugh said Sunday. “Somebody needs to step up and be the back. And none of those guys have done that yet. And when one of those guys steps up to be the back, then they’ll be the back. … That’s as honest as I can be about it. And they know that, too. And believe me, they’re all hungry. They want to step up. One of those guys wants to step up. Somebody’s going to step up and take that job. We’re going to see who it is.”

Perhaps it will be Skattebo who steps up. Or maybe not.

When asked if he expects to be more involved next week when the Giants head to Houston to face the Texans, Skattebo said he’s expecting the “same thing” until he’s told differently.

“They understand the type of player I am, and I just got to continue to do my job and do it to the best of my ability,” Skattebo said. “I got to just get back to practice, work my butt off, and hopefully it comes back around.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.