New York Giants DB Logan Ryan tests positive; RB Saquon Barkley 'getting better'

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants captain and safety Logan Ryan has tested positive for COVID-19, coach Joe Judge confirmed Friday morning. He has not officially been ruled out for Monday night's road matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it seems to be trending in that direction.

The news on running back Saquon Barkley is more encouraging after he handled a substantial workload in Friday's practice. Barkley said he is feeling "pretty good and getting better every day" despite being extremely vague on the actual extent of the injury that occurred on Oct. 10. He did admit it kept him out longer than expected.

Judge confirmed that Barkley is trending in the right direction for Monday night.

Barkley's injured ankle, which has forced him to miss the past four games, is still experiencing some soreness, and he wasn't sure if it's something that will have to be managed throughout the remainder of the season.

Barkley was officially listed as limited in Friday's practice.

Meanwhile, the Giants are waiting for one final test on Ryan; however, Judge said he doesn't believe Ryan's result was a false positive like the team had for several tests a few weeks ago.

According to the Giants, Ryan, who is vaccinated, participated in Zoom meetings and was able to practice outdoors on Thursday.

He was a close contact on Thursday while outside of the team's practice facility, which forced him to get tested beyond his normal once-a-week responsibility, per Judge. Ryan tested negative Thursday before testing positive on Friday morning.

"We are still waiting for some official test results in terms of the long-term ones," Judge said. "He wouldn't be completely ruled out at this point for the game. We have to wait and see for the test results coming up. Right now, we're getting ready to place him on the COVID/IR just to go ahead and create the spot for movement-wise."

The Giants (3-6) have done close contact tracing, and the rest of the team, minus outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter (stomach bug), was at Friday afternoon's practice. They did have some players participate in meetings earlier in the day through Zoom as a precaution, including some unvaccinated defensive backs who share the same meeting room as Ryan.

Julian Love, who would likely start in Ryan's absence, spoke to him Friday morning and was told he "feels fine." Ryan was going through his normal routine as he awaited further information.

"It's tough," Love said. "It's tough to see. First and foremost, you just want to wish safety to him and everyone he is around. His family and all that. That is kind of what is on my mind for him, his health and safety."

Ryan not playing would be a big loss for this defense, which has played better in recent weeks, as the Giants have won two of their past three games. It would be especially difficult against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers' explosive offense.

Ryan leads the Giants with 72 tackles and two forced fumbles.

"Look, I'd say throughout the year we already lost a lot of significant players," Judge said. "We don't want to be without any of our guys, especially a captain, a leader. But that is something we've already gone through as a team. Everyone has to prepare every week. We have to get the team prepared every week. It doesn't matter who we're playing. You want to have all your players out there. The most important thing is everyone has to be prepared so that when they go out there they can produce."