Will Saquon Barkley play Sunday vs. Dolphins? The latest injury news on NY Giants' star RB

EAST RUTHERFORD - Saquon Barkley's status remains uncertain as he continues to recover from the high ankle sprain that has kept him out of the New York Giants' last two games as they turn their focus to the Miami Dolphins.

In Friday's final practice before Big Blue hits the road, with the Giants practicing outdoors their grass fields in a light rain, Barkley spent the early part of special teams period getting his right ankle re-taped. He was chatting it up with Giants coach Brian Daboll on the side and then joined the QBs for position drills.

Barkley took a few handoffs from Daniel Jones, but looked as though he was still trying to get comfortable, testing out his ankle. The Giants upgraded his status from last week, however, listing Barkley as questionable for the game.

Barkley took a promising step forward this week in Wednesday and Thursday sessions when he ramped up his participation in practice with reps during team periods after being limited to individual drills last week. How much he did in those team periods of live action, and to what extent, could provide further clarity to his availability.

Barkley's status remains one of the top storylines heading into Sunday's game against the high-powered Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

"I'll definitely say I'm in a better spot than I was last Thursday," Barkley said after practice Thursday. "Definitely encouraged, but don't want to make any guarantees. Continue trusting my body, trusting the training staff and go from there."

Star left tackle Andrew Thomas was not at practice Friday for the third consecutive day, so it's safe to rule him out for Sunday's game against the Dolphins.

What we saw from Barkley on Thursday

The media viewing period is limited to position drills, and for Barkley, work with Daniel Jones and the quarterbacks.

Barkley appeared to be purposeful with pushing and testing out his ankle Wednesday, setting himself up for what looked to be his usual practice pace Thursday. He took handoffs from Jones and cut upfield.

An interesting part of that drill period: Barkley ran an angle route and slipped on the grass with a team staffer mirroring as a defensive back in coverage. As Eric Gray took his turn, catching a pass from Tyrod Taylor, Barkley hustled back to the huddle and ran the route again, this time planting firmly and smoothly making the catch as the media viewing period ended.

Barkley likely does not do that if he isn't practicing with an eye toward a Sunday return, especially not if his ankle is bothering him.

What we saw from Barkley on Wednesday

Barkley showed some added juice during the media viewing period, contributing to the promise of a potential return Saturday. He was running and spinning off to the side as special teams drills were ongoing. As part of the work, Barkley was also jumping up to make one-handed catches from assistant coach Laura Young, who was tossing him the football from short distances.

Then, when joining Daniel Jones and the rest of the quarterbacks, Barkley displayed more burst than he did last week. He caught a swing pass from Jones and turned upfield without hesitation, seemingly his usual self.

Barkley watched the Giants' latest loss Monday night from the sideline, unable to provide a spark to the offense as Daniel Jones was sacked 10 times in yet another disappointing defeat, this time 24-3 to the Seattle Seahawks.

Barkley suffered his ankle injury late in the Giants' only victory in Arizona. He practiced as a limited participant in all three sessions last week, but was listed as doubtful to play entering Monday night's contest.

"I mean, it’s one of those things that I think I am doing way better than what a lot of people would expect, especially talking to doctors, that I am further along [than they anticipated]," Barkley said last Saturday. "But it’s frustrating because I am healing fast, but you want it to be faster. You want to heal fast, but it’s tough balancing that. Just taking it day by day, just fighting. Every single day I come in and I'm rehabbing, trying to get myself back to a place where I can go out there and compete at a high level for my team."

Scoring more points is imperative to compete against the Dolphins, who dazzled in a victory over the Denver Broncos two weeks ago by putting up 70 points behind quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, star wide receiver Tyreek Hill and rookie running back De'Von Achane, who has scored four touchdowns and rushed for 309 yards in three games.

Barkley scored a pair of touchdowns during the Giants' historic comeback against the Cardinals in which they rallied from 21 points down in the third quarter to secure their only win of the year. They've lost two games to the 49ers and the Seahawks by a combined 54-15 without Barkley.

"Obviously scoring points is a premium," Giants coach Brian Daboll said Tuesday. "We got down there in the red zone [against the Seahawks], had a chance to make it a really competitive game and that one play flipped the game pretty quick. Got to do a better job of finishing early drives."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Saquon Barkley injury update: Will NY Giants RB play vs Dolphins?