EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — When Saquon Barkley saw Giants backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor take a vicious shot to the head (he was later diagnosed with a concussion), it took a second for him to realize what was about to happen.

Then, it dawned on him.

“Oh, I’m up next,” Barkley said. “I’m the quarterback.”

Starting quarterback Daniel Jones had already been lifted from the game with an injury, and third-stringer and practice squad member Davis Webb was left off the active roster Sunday, meaning the Giants were entering undesirable territory. They had no healthy quarterbacks.

.@JaquanBrisker comin’ in HOT 🔥

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— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 2, 2022

The Giants had to move to their first contingency plan (Taylor) after Jones was sacked hard in the third quarter, limping his way through the end of a series. Once Jones, who’d been running all day — he finished with 68 rushing yards and two touchdowns on six carries — reached the bench, doctors and trainers attended to him. As Jones tested his left ankle, Taylor started throwing. Though it was clear Jones wanted to play as he talked with medical staff on the sidelines, the team decided to shut him down.

Jones later called the decision “frustrating.”

Taylor took over on the next series, which ended four plays later with an interception of a deep pass intended for Darius Slayton.

Ballhawk Mode: Activated

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— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 2, 2022

With 12 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Taylor started his second drive. Between Barkley runs and two pass attempts, Taylor showed off some fancy footwork, spinning past the Bears’ Roquan Smith for a first down. But on his next scramble, Taylor was pummeled by Bears defensive back Kyler Gordon, whose helmet struck Taylor’s. It was Taylor’s turn to head to the medical tent, and Jones returned to the field.

But not as the quarterback. Not exactly.

“I knew I was going back in,” said Jones, who added that it hurt to be out there once he came back and that he didn’t feel he could move the same way. “I knew we’d be creative in how we’d scheme up certain runs to keep it moving forward.”

That creativity sprung, in part, from coach Brian Daboll reaching for a whiteboard rather than an iPad.

“The way that the coaches reacted — brought us all in and started drawing it up — it felt like you’re back again as a little kid in the backyard playing football,” Barkley said. “Like you were 8 years old playing with your friends on Sunday getting ready. You’re just drawing it up — ‘I’m the quarterback. This is what we are going to do. This is how we’re going to do it.’”

The Giants turned to the wildcat, with Jones split out wide so the defense had to at least respect the threat of a pass. The Giants had rehearsed some of the plays they ran Sunday in the days leading up to the game. A couple of others were worked up on the sideline.

“It’s just a matter of, ‘Hey, let’s go to three-back personnel that they haven’t seen all game and run one of our plays from our — it’s not the wing-T but the three guys in alignment, and let’s use that,” Daboll said. “‘If it works, let’s come back to it.’

“You’re looking across the field, and you know what’s coming, and (Bears head coach Matt Eberflus) is telling (his players) to all get up and bring blitz zero. But we felt that we had a hat for a hat on most of those plays that we had. And then we ran another one that Saquon had a read on. And the discussion was: Do we just put Saquon back there and forget about the quarterback and put him out? But that changes some defensive philosophy and mentality, too. So, just to try to give yourself a little bit of crease.”

Barkley took the first three snaps following Jones’ re-entry into the game. He was joined in the backfield by fellow running backs Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell. Breida picked up a first down with a 13-yard gain off the first snap. On the following play, Barkley faked a handoff to Breida and instead took it up the middle for 4 yards. On Barkley’s final snap behind center, he handed it off to Breida for 1 yard.

Though the formation was almost certainly new to fans watching at home, the plays were just another way for Daboll and the Giants to get the ball in their superstar running back’s hands. Breida, who said they practice packages like that weekly, saw a few unsure faces among the Bears defenders as the Giants lined up.

“Oh, man, it shocks them because they come in and they’re looking like: ‘Is that a running back? Is that a wide receiver? What’s going on?’” Brieda said. “I think it’s just a great way to change up the pace of the game, ’cause now they really got to honor that. They just can’t all-out blitz ’cause they don’t know what we’re going to do back there.”

Jones took the final snap of the drive but quickly handed it off to Brightwell for no gain. But, fortunately for the Giants, enough damage had already been done. The Giants were in field goal range. Graham Gano then trotted onto the field and made a 43-yarder to extend the Giants’ lead to 20-12.

That the Giants were able to scrounge out enough yards in a dire situation to make it a reasonable field goal attempt is a testament to the coaching staff’s preparedness and ability to adjust on the fly, as well as the players’ resilience.

“We got a gritty, tough group of guys who want to compete and fight for 60 minutes,” Jones said. “It hasn’t been perfect. There’s a lot of things we’re still working to clean up and correct going forward. (But) we got a group that’ll fight and compete for the whole game. That’s fun to be a part of.”

At 3-1, the Giants are off to their best four-game start since 2011. But before the Giants can start looking forward to next Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers in London, they first have to figure out who will be available to play. Eight Giants players, other than quarterbacks, left Sunday’s game with various ailments. Taylor is in concussion protocol, and Jones’ injury hasn’t been officially diagnosed. He did walk into his postgame news conference with a noticeable limp. In all likelihood, Webb will be promoted from the practice squad if Jones and/or Taylor aren’t ready to play next week.

Though Barkley seemed to enjoy handling a few snaps, he’s hoping not to make a habit of it.

“I mean, I would love that, but actually I wouldn’t love that. Hopefully, we are never in that situation again,” Barkley said. “But we were able to get it done.”

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(Photo: Brad Penner / USA Today)