Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley will not be given a chance to break Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record but he has “a bigger goal in mind” ahead of the playoffs.
Barkley has enjoyed a stunning debut season with the Eagles, rushing for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns. The 27-year-old is just 101 yards shy of Dickerson’s all-time rushing record, but Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has decided to rest Barkley in Week 18.
With the Eagles already locking in the No. 2 seed in the NFC, Sirianni will rest some of his top starters during Sunday’s regular-season finale against the New York Giants. It means that Barkley won’t challenge for the record despite wanting to play, but he respects Sirianni’s decision and hinted that winning a championship is his priority this season.
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“Coach asked me what I’d like to do,” Barkley explained to reporters. “We had a conversation. He called me back and let me know that we were probably going to be resting.
“My reaction was kinda likeI told my family, obviously my family probably wanted [the record] a little bit more than mebut at the end of the day the most important thing is winning football games and winning in the playoffs. I’ve got a bigger goal in mind anyway.”
Sirianni’s preference was made clear to Barkley, but the running back revealed that the head coach had asked him before making his final decision. “[Sirianni] asked me if I wanted to play, if I wanted to go for it,” Barkley added.
“I said [last] Sunday I probably didn’t care too much for it. When I slept on it I was like, it’s an opportunity to implant my name in football history, I may never get an opportunity like that again, so I’m down. But at the end of the day, I don’t care if I’m putting the team at risk.
“He’s the head coach for a reason. He makes those decisions and whatever decision he wanted to make, I let him know if [he] wanted me to play Im gonna out there and make sure I get [the record], and if you don’t I’m okay with that too.”
It’s a bittersweet situation for Barkley, as an all-time record would be a proud individual accolade, but ultimately he joined the Eagles in the hopes of winning a Super Bowl ring. Sunday’s game is also against the Giants, the organization he left in the offseason after being allowed to test free agency.
Barkley felt disrespected by the Giants after they told him to discover his true value following contract negotiations, despite expressing his desire to remain with the franchise. Barkley has more rushing yards this season than the entire Giants roster combined.
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