At this point in the summer, with the NFL on the doorstep of opening training camps across the country, all a team wants is to have every player ready by the time they first hit the field. If any wacky injuries pop up before then, they can start things on a sour note.
The New York Giants, who are slated to have veterans report on July 28, may be holding their breath between now and then as it relates to star running back Cam Skattebo.
The second-year bruiser, who is coming back from a season-ending ankle injury in October, gave fans, followers and, most importantly, the Giants, a scare over the weekend after stumbling following a backflip attempt at Fanatics Fest.
A video of Skattebo’s failed backflip went viral, as you can see him seemingly showing off his recovered right ankle before flinging himself backward. Skattebo couldn’t stick the landing, falling awkwardly before quickly popping up.
In the moment, it didn’t appear that Skattebo hurt himself, but it’s certainly not what you want to see from a player expected to be a central piece of the offense in 2026. Speaking to SiriusXM’s “The Fantasy Footballers” at an event after the blunder, Skattebo reiterated that he’s “perfectly fine” while vowing not to injure himself before the season.
“I’ve been doing backflips since I was like four years old, so it’s natural to me. I’m gonna address the elephant [in the room]: I will not hurt myself before the season,” Skattebo said, via NFL.com.
“What happened was, I don’t know if you guys know WWE or not, those floors are bouncy. So when I took off, I was mid-air, like, holy cow, I’m not gonna land this, I’m way too high. Landed, but it had too much cushion. It wasn’t a stiff, firm ground. So that’s why I kinda like went back, safely landed, got back up, was good to go. So nothing came out from that. I’m perfectly fine. Nothing happened. We’re good.”
While putting himself in a position to reinjure himself probably wasn’t the wisest of choices for Skattebo, his quarterback, Jaxson Dart, looked at it with a glass-half-full view.
“Hey, when I looked at it though, I was like, that’s the most explosive I’ve seen Skat. He over-rotated,” Dart said. “He looks real good, man. He looks real good.”
This viral backflip was just the latest in what has been a rise into the mainstream for Skattebo, who has developed a sort of wild-child reputation. While he admittedly enjoys that moniker, he doesn’t appreciate when it’s perceived as a lack of intellect.
“No, I totally enjoy that part. I think I less enjoy the brain-dead kind of guy,” he said. “But it is what it is. I mean, the New York people love it, so I’m just gonna keep being me. And if they wanna say I’m brain-dead and I don’t have no brain, then who cares? F— it, you know?”
Skattebo, a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Arizona State, quickly blossomed into a fixture within New York’s offense during his rookie season. In eight games, he compiled 410 rushing yards and five touchdowns while adding 207 yards receiving and two more scores.
He was just one of five players with at least 400 rushing yards and 200 receiving yards through Week 8, joining De’Von Achane, Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson and Jonathan Taylor.
