Cam Skattebo just told the Giants everything they needed to know about his offseason.
At Brian Burns’ charity softball game in Pomona, New York on Saturday, the second-year running back rounded the bases after a home run and capped it with his signature backflip. Less than seven months removed from surgery to repair a dislocated ankle, Skattebo was flipping through the air like nothing had ever happened.
That is the kind of update that makes Giants fans exhale.
Skattebo went down in Week 8 of the 2025 season against the Eagles with what initially looked like a season-ending injury. The Giants confirmed the dislocated ankle, the surgery, and the long road back. There were real questions about whether the punishing runner would be ready for Week 1 of 2026. He was already trending in the right direction. The backflip just confirmed it.
Anyone who watched Skattebo play as a rookie knows why this matters so much. He was one of the most physical runners in the league before the injury. He was the rare back who actually punished defenders. The Giants offense had real life when he was on the field. Without him, the running game disappeared and Daniel Jones was running for his life.
Now the team gets him back. And based on Saturday’s display, they are getting him back with all the explosiveness intact.
Charity softball games are obviously not full football contact. A backflip is impressive but it is not a 250-pound linebacker collapsing into your healed-up ankle. The real test will come in training camp when Skattebo has to make football cuts at full speed. But everything we have seen from his rehab suggests that test is going to go just fine.
Skattebo has been open about his recovery process. He has talked about seeking advice from former NFL players who came back from similar ankle injuries. He has been at the Giants facility consistently. He has put in the work. The backflip is the visible payoff of a private grind that started the moment he came out of the operating room.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll has had to spend the entire offseason answering questions about his running back room. The team added depth in free agency and the draft, but everyone knows Skattebo is the engine. If he comes back healthy and ready, the Giants offense looks completely different than it did in the back half of last season.
New York has been searching for a franchise running back for years. Skattebo looked like he might be the answer before the injury. He is back to looking like the answer now. Week 1 is still over three months away, but the Giants are no longer wondering whether they will have him. They are just counting down the days.
The backflip itself was vintage Skattebo. Confident, athletic, and the kind of move you should not really be doing if you are still worried about your ankle. He is not worried.
If the rest of the Giants offense can get up to speed by September, Skattebo is going to give them a chance to be relevant again. The clock starts in training camp.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
