Giants RB Saquon Barkley (ankle) was a full participant at practice Wednesday, a very good sign that he’ll return to the field on Sunday against the Cardinals.

Saquon Barkley looks poised to start against an overall weak Cardinals defense in a game where the pace should also see a bump. He should be reinserted into the Top-5 running backs each week moving forward.

RB Saquon Barkley (ankle), RB Wayne Gallman (concussion), TE Evan Engram (knee) and WR Sterling Shepard (concussion) all took part in individual drills during the Giants' light practice today.

Vacchiano added to his tweet Barkley and Engram have a chance to play this week, and for Barkley, this seemed to be a target week despite a high ankle sprain. It was also added Shepard is probably a longshot to suit up, as there are rumbling it was going to take some extra time after his concussion.

Giants ruled out Saquon Barkley, Wayne Gallman, Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard for Thursday night against New England.

The Giants will be down to starting Jon Hilliman at running back, Rhett Ellison at tight end and Golden Tate, Cody Latimer, and Darius Slayton at wide receiver against the Patriots tough defense on Thursday night. Their value is low, but as starters, they have some flex appeal as bye week fill-ins.

In addition to WR Sterling Shepard being out Thursday at New England and RB Saquon Barkley being unlikely to play, there’s also a real chance the Giants will be without TE Evan Engram, who is dealing with a sprained MCL, per source. It’ll be a challenge for Engram to play at NE.

Related players: Rhett Ellison

Of course the Giants will also be without WR Sterling Shepard against a NE defense allowing 6.8 points per game. Ellison is next up on the depth chart at TE but it's just not a great situation for owners to be counting on Ellison.

Running back Wayne Gallman and wide receiver Sterling Shepard also are going to miss Thursday night's game. Both have concussions.

Related players: Saquon Barkley, Jon Hilliman

This story and other reports say Barkley is also unlikely to play in Week 6 because of his high ankle sprain, leaving the RB duties to Hilliman against a Patriots defense that's allowing just 6.8 points per game this season. While the workload could be there for Hilliman, it's not a safe matchup.

Saquon Barkley unlikely to play Thursday night against the Patriots, per sources.

Related players: Wayne Gallman, Jon Hilliman

The tweet went on to say its still expected to be too early for medical clearance despite returning to practice last week. It has been 16 days since he suffered a high ankle sprain. With Gallman likely out as well (concussion), the RB duties could fall mostly to Hilliman in a not-so-great matchup against the Pats.