New Giants coach John Harbaugh had a piece of advice for Cam Skattebo after his second-year running back went viral over the weekend for botching his trademark backflip.
"Dude, at least stick it. You know what I mean?" he joked in an appearance on the "Bleav in Giants" podcast published Tuesday. "Land the thing if you're gonna do it."
The video, which came from an appearance at Fanatics Fest on Saturday, elicited a concerned response from Giants fans with Skattebo coming off surgery to repair a right ankle dislocation. However, he confirmed he's "perfectly fine" after the tumble the following day and blamed the fall on "bouncy" floors.
Despite the initial gruesome nature of Skattebo's injury last October, the running back has made significant progress in his recovery. He returned to practice in the spring, under the conditions that there were no back flips. Skattebo surprisingly did a back flip after hitting a home run at the Brian Burns Celebrity Softball Game back in May.
"I was happy. He was telling me [that morning], and the trainer told me, too, that he was going to get some plays in group [drills] and plays in team [drills], and I was like, that's where you want him to be," Harbaugh said after the first minicamp practice last month. "He's worked super hard. Super hard.
"I did mention maybe no back flips out here [at minicamp]. We agreed."
Skattebo had an electric start to his NFL career last season, accounting for 617 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns before going down in Week 8 with the injury. On the podcast Tuesday, Harbaugh remained confident the running back will be ready for training camp next month.
"[Skattebo] is gonna be ready to go," Harbaugh said. "He's been working super hard, he's really been training like crazy. And his mind is on camp. You know he's healthy, he's ready to roll and I can't wait to see him out there at practice."
ESPN's Jordan Raanan contributed to this story.
