Even a “quick healer” like Saquon Barkley couldn’t make it back from a high ankle sprain in 15 days.

Barkley was inactive for the Giants on Monday night against the Seahawks even after he was a limited participant in the final three practices of the week.

He was listed as doubtful on Saturday’s injury report but arrived at MetLife Stadium with the possibility of talking himself into the lineup.

Instead, Barkley never appeared on the field with teammates during warmups.   

The Giants entered Monday’s game with a 9-14 record over six seasons when Barkley does not play, including last week’s loss to the 49ers.

But the first time that head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka had to plan for a meaningful game without Barkley the offense became one-dimensional, with the second-lowest number of carries in a game (11) for the run-oriented franchise in the Super Bowl era.

Just like against the 49ers, Matt Breida started in place of Barkley against the Seahawks.

Gary Brightwell and rookie Eric Gray offered depth.

“When you are a top-five running back in the league, of course you are going to be missed,” running backs coach Jeff Nixon said. “But we have complete confidence in those other guys. They prepare well, and they are expected to go out and help us win games.”

For Barkley, his third career ankle sprain coming in a contract walk-year is a no-win situation when it comes to securing his future.

Missing games saves his body against a heavy workload but adds to his injury-prone reputation.

Forcing his way into the lineup shows that he is a team-first player who can be relied upon, but any poor games at less than 100 percent healthy could be used to say he has lost a step or 

“I would love to just go out there and play anytime I can,” Barkley said Saturday. “It’s a tough injury to battle through, but whenever that is, I just would love to be out there because I love the game of football and that’s the only thing that matters.”