Cam Skattebo says he considered retiring after Giants rookie ankle injury

New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo said on Thursday that he thought about quitting football after a season-ending ankle injury in 2025. Speaking with Kay Adams on Up & Adams, the fourth-round pick out of Arizona State described the first month of rehab and why he chose to come back.

Skattebo is expected to start when the Giants open the 2026 season against the Dallas Cowboys on September 13 at MetLife Stadium.

Cam Skattebo set one rule before the draft

Before he reached the NFL, Cam Skattebo had already drawn a hard line.

“Coming out of college, going into the NFL, I think I gave myself one rule. And that was if I ever got a major injury, I was done playing. And that happened seven games into my career, so it kind of sucked. But I think that really helped me find who I am as a player and a person.”

That injury came in Week 8 against the Philadelphia Eagles. He dislocated his right ankle, fractured his tibia, and ruptured the deltoid ligament. Surgery followed the next day. A rookie surge that had New York talking about Offensive Rookie of the Year was over.

In eight games and five starts, Skattebo rushed for 410 yards and five touchdowns on 101 carries. He also caught 24 passes for 207 yards and two more scores. When the Giants made him the featured back, the offense woke up. Then it stopped.

The first month of rehab was the hardest

Adams asked if he considered retirement. Cam Skattebo did not dodge it.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “I would say probably a month in, like the first month, I was like, ‘Damn, do I really wanna do this?’ And then, it was seven games. I was like, ‘I gotta go back and play.’ There’s no shot. If it was the end of the year and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m over this.’ I didn’t feel that way at all. … I think that gave me an extra step of finding that deep place and coming out of a hole that I didn’t know I could come out of.”

By the time the Giants finished 4-13, those doubts were gone. Rehab became the work that told him who he was off the field as much as on it.

New staff, same lead back

New York overhauled the coaching staff and hired John Harbaugh after 18 seasons in Baltimore. Harbaugh built one of the NFL’s most physical rushing attacks with the Ravens. Matt Nagy is the new offensive coordinator. The Giants want a downhill run game, and Skattebo is the back built for it.

Tyrone Tracy Jr., Najee Harris and Devin Singletary will fight for touches. There is little mystery about the most explosive option in that room. Skattebo played in the preseason opener, then sat the last two exhibitions as a precaution.