Saquon Barkley won’t play in Eagles’ regular-season finale
As the allure of setting the all-time single-season rushing yard record sits in front of Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley, he has elected to prioritize his Super Bowl aspirations.
On Wednesday, head coach Nick Sirianni indicated that Barkley will likely be one of the players who rests instead of playing in the regular season finale against the New York Giants.
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Barkley is coming off becoming the ninth player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season. Although he sits only 101 yards away from breaking Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson’s prestigious league record of 2,105 yards, the star back voiced that his focus lies on the bigger picture.
“[Sirianni] asked me if I wanted to play, if I wanted to go for it,” Barkley said via ESPN. “I said on Sunday [that] I probably didn’t care too much for it. When I slept on it, it was an opportunity to implant my name in football history, and I may never get an opportunity like that again. So, I’m down. But at the end of the day, I don’t care for 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 you let me play, I’m going to go out there and make sure I get it. And if I don’t, I am OK with that, too.”
The Eagles are already locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture, leaving them with nothing to gain in Week 18. Barkley sitting avoids injury and provides him with additional rest ahead of the playoffs.
