'How can I take it to another level?': Saquon Barkley's quest to find that answer begins

EAST RUTHERFORD - Saquon Barkley was searching for answers on how to carry out the assignment properly.

When it comes to playing running back for the New York Giants, taking aim at the Dallas Cowboys on "Sunday Night Football" in the season opener for both teams three days from now, Barkley has zero questions. He knows what needs to be done, what role he will be asked to play and how to execute the game plan.

Barkley has been living the NFL life for five years to this point and his sixth is on the immediate horizon.

The uncertainty Barkley is currently harboring has nothing to do with football and everything to do with his new gig as an assistant coach for his 5-year-old daughter Jada's soccer team.

"Guess I'm gonna go on YouTube and try to teach the fundamentals," Barkley said with a laugh Wednesday after practice. "Because I know nothing about soccer, to be honest. But it's going to be fun."

Barkley gets to have a more familiar kind of fun when he steps inside MetLife Stadium on Sunday, and it's been a long and winding road since the last time he was on the field in a game that counted.

Throughout everything Barkley and the Giants have gone through together in the eight months since losing to the Eagles in the NFC Divisional Round of the playoffs, from the tough negotiations to a contract impasse and then the 11th hour compromise to avoid an absence of any kind at the start of training camp, this was always going to be where the former No. 2 overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft was most comfortable.

His blue No. 26 jersey on his back, a defense geared up to stop him and the chance to carry the football and take another step toward becoming the player he believes he can be, the one he believes he already is.

The future is uncertain. The past is the past.

For Barkley, what transpires over the next 17 games must be all that matters if he is going to succeed in proving his worth to the Giants, not to mention the rest of the NFL. He's not chasing a contract at the moment; no one's really sure, given the state of the running back market, if that's even attainable to the level he believes he deserves.

Barkley's back with the Giants chasing a legacy, and that looms over the present, and what comes next will be a fascinating watch for a team that views itself as a legitimate contender to return to the playoffs and primed to compete for more.

"Now, how can I take it to another level?" Barkley quipped. "Whether that’s in between the tackles, outside the tackles, catching the ball, running routes, showing why I was drafted No. 2, I feel like I was able to do that last year. But now I want to be able to take it to another level and be special."

Barkley will cross paths with former Penn State teammate and current Cowboys All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons on Sunday, and the two stars were together back on campus last Saturday night for the Penn State-West Virginia game.

And Parsons came away believing the Cowboys are going to get Barkley's best, so they'll prepare as such.

“He’s excited,” Parsons said of Barkley in speaking with reporters Wednesday after the Cowboys practiced in Frisco, Texas. “He’s talking about his new running style, how he’s going back to Penn State Saquon, things like that. We both know it’s all love at the end of the day."

There is never any love lost between the Giants and the Cowboys, although with Dak Prescott at quarterback, Dallas has dominated the rivalry. The Giants have not beaten Prescott since 2016 when they swept the Cowboys on the road to the playoffs in Ben McAdoo's first season as head coach. That, of course, was three head coaches ago for Big Blue. Also consider this: Barkley has never beaten the Cowboys in a game in which he played.

Barkley finished with a career-best 1,312 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns last season, leading the Giants to early season success before he and quarterback Daniel Jones helped carry the team to the postseason, where they won a playoff game for the first time since Super Bowl XLVI. He was also a significant piece of the passing game puzzle, tying for the team lead with 57 catches.

"I think I would be doing a disservice to myself to get too caught up in my future and worrying about what’s going to happen and being a Giant for life," Barkley said. "I’ve got to live in the moment, I’ve got to live in the now."

Parsons and the Cowboys represent the now for Barkley and the Giants.

Barkley is well aware of what has been said about him during his contract dispute with the Giants, who held firm and got him to accept a slightly-inflated one-year deal worth up to $11 million. Those new incentives are all tied to the Giants returning to the playoffs.

"So now, my back’s against the wall again. I’ve got to go out there and prove it," Barkley said. "I’m going to go out there and play my heart out, compete at a high level and do what I do best, not only for myself, but for my teammates."

Barkley did not play a down in the preseason, but he did not miss a practice, either. He joked that he got more out of banging heads with teammates Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams in those sessions, and that he was ready to unleash his talent with the rest of the new-look offense as the season begins.

The Giants are eager to see Barkley operate in space created by the presence of Darren Waller, among others. How the infusion of speed and playmaking ability from such newcomers as Waller, Parris Campbell and rookie Jalin Hyatt, plus the returns of Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins and Sterling Shepard, takes the opposing defense's attention away from Barkley remains to be seen.

"Everyone always talks about the legacy and the names on these walls in this locker room and in the indoor facility," Barkley said. "And that’s what I want to be a part of."

That quest continues under the lights against the Cowboys, and the best way for Barkley to give himself a chance at what he wants is to not only repeat last season's performance, but somehow top it.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Saquon Barkley: Can NY Giants star RB take his game to another level?