NY Giants rookie Cam Skattebo is the kind of hard-charging, downhill runner you instantly fall in love with while watching a game. His aggressive, no-nonsense running style feels like a throwback to the old-school NFL. But that style of football is very risky, and Skattebo knew the toll it could take on his body. For years, the running back even told himself and those closest to him that a major injury would be the line in the sand.
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“I always told myself that if I ever had a major injury, I was done playing. If I ever break my leg or something, or blow my knee out, I’m done… I would tell my best friend that, I would tell my girlfriend that,” Skattebo said during his appearance on the Roommates Show podcast with Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.
Unfortunately for Skattebo, that reality hit home in Week 8 against the Eagles, when he suffered a season-ending right ankle dislocation, a fibula fracture, and a deltoid ligament rupture. In the immediate aftermath, the promise he made to his friends and family crept back into his mind. But after the dust settled, Skattebo had a change of heart.
Instead of walking away, the Arizona State product found clarity in realizing how much football he still had left in him. And that realization pushed him to fully commit to rehab and set his sights on a strong return to the field.
“As soon as I started getting hot, balling out, starting to become the face [of the Giants] a little bit, and I got hurt. And I was like, ‘I can’t like, play football for seven games, get hurt, and never play again… Now, I’m like, ‘You don’t realize what you had, what it means to you until you get taken out of the game,” he said, adding,
“That’s how I kind of feel right now. Like, grinding every day, going to treatement everyday, working out every day, doing nothing but arms, every single day, and then not being able to go on Sunday to go and play with the boys, you know, that’s the worst part. What am I putting in all this work for? I’m not gonna pull all this work in for to get healthy just to quit. So, I’m just looking forward to playing again.”
“I always told myself if I ever had a major injury, I was done playing… Then I got hurt and it was like, ‘Alright, I can’t play football for 7 games and just never play again.’” @BetMGM pic.twitter.com/bq19ILywrw
— Roommates Show (@Roommates__Show) January 24, 2026
Skattebo is “doing nothing but arms” because his leg is still in the process of recovering. He was only recently cleared to jog, but that does not mean he is falling behind. Recovery from an injury of that severity typically takes four to six months, and Skattebo has been progressing steadily.
As early as December, he was seen walking unaided without a boot. Giants general manager Joe Schoen later said Skattebo is on track to return during the team’s offseason program, which begins in April. With a new head coach in the building in John Harbaugh, Skattebo is surely looking forward to getting back on the field and starting the next chapter.
