What is the big deal about this? 

Skattebo is coming off a nasty right ankle dislocation and open tibia fracture that ended his rookie season after only eight games. His rehab proceeded just fine, but there could certainly be reason to object to seeing him needlessly test and possibly endanger the ankle merely two weeks before camp. 

Schoen’s initial reaction was to fire off a quick text to confirm Skattebo was fine. 

“The video shows a little bit about how good his rehab’s been, that he’s able to not land it and still be okay,’’ Schoen said, before adding, “but he knows I’d rather him not do that, especially this close to camp.’’ 

Head coach John Harbaugh spoke with Skattebo about this and it certainly sounds as if the message was received. 

“Yeah, I mean, obviously I do some dumb things here and there, but I learn from it,’’ Skattebo said Friday after training camp practice No. 3 at the Sports Performance Center at The Greenbrier resort. “My coach talked to me, told me how he felt, and I learned from it. And will I go do that backflip again? Probably not. We live and we learn, and we move on.’’ 

Skattebo, 24, has already evoked several impressions in his brief NFL existence. His hard-charging running style made him an instant favorite, his head-butting with the quarterback and best bud Jaxson Dart only added to his popularity.

His production? That was … fine. Nothing really special. In eight games, he rushed for 410 yards, averaging only 4.1 yards per attempt. He had seven total touchdowns (five rushing, two receiving). His impact game was a three-touchdown eruption in the Week 6 high point in a season of lowlights: a 34-17 victory over the arch-nemesis Eagles.

Two weeks later, in the rematch in Philadelphia, Skattebo’s rookie season came to a gruesome end. 

“It was a long, hard road that I’ve took, but I told them I would be ready, Day 1, and look where we are,’’ Skattebo said. 

Harbaugh joked that if Skattebo was going to do a backflip, the least he could do was stick the landing. That is where the jokes end. Harbaugh was serious when it came down to making sure his second-year player was cognizant that recklessness, anywhere, is unwise. 

“Me and Harbs have had a couple talks,’’ Skattebo said. “Good ones, bad ones. Not bad, but rough conversations, being honest with each other. You can tell he cares, man. You can tell he wants the best for this team. He wants what everybody wants. We all want to win.’’ 

The Giants want to be a running team. Harbaugh has said this and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has impressed this upon Skattebo and the other running backs. Skattebo is getting first-team reps and Tyrone Tracy is sprinkled in, as well. That will be the one-two punch to lead the ground attack. 

Skattebo looks just fine running the ball in these no-padded practices. He said he is “99.9 percent back to full health” and that “the 100 percent is when I put shoulder pads on and I’m able to hit someone.’’ Anyone remotely familiar with his full-speed-ahead running style understands where Skattebo is coming from here. 

There are no promises, however, that the backflip celebration will never be seen again. 

“When game time comes around, we’ll see what game time comes around,’’ he said. “But right now, we’re focused on training camp, and we’ll keep the backflips off the field for now.’’ 

The Giants hope they have many opportunities to see how Skattebo this season reacts to getting into the end zone. After all, he did say “for now.’’