Saquon Barkley to sit Week 18 for Eagles, ending chase for NFL single-season rushing record

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley will not go for history Sunday against the New York Giants in the regular-season finale, head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters Wednesday.

“We’re gonna rest some guys,” said Sirianni before later adding Barkley will “probably be somebody who rests” when asked a follow-up question.

With Barkley’s regular season finished, he will end his first season with the Eagles 100 yards behind Eric Dickerson for the NFL single-season rushing record of 2,105 — a mark that was set in 1984.

Barkley became the ninth player to join the 2,000-yard club with a 167-yard day during a win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17.

The Eagles wrapped up the NFC East crown with that win, and without a shot at claiming the top seed in the conference, there were questions about whether Sirianni would decide to give Barkley a rest ahead of the playoffs or allow him to pursue Dickerson’s record.

“A lot plays into it,” Sirianni said of the decision to rest Barkley. “Obviously, it’s a very special record that’s been standing for a very long time by a great player. It’s a team record that everybody’s involved in. So, you weigh all those things, but at the end of the day you just try to do what’s best for the team. … We’ve put ourselves in a position to be able to be in this situation. Our goals are to have success and to play good the next game we play, not only in New York but whoever we play after that. We think that this [decision] plays into that.

“It wasn’t the easiest decision to go through, but we have great people in this building and [I] had a lot of input from a lot of different people, players included.”

A similar situation happened in 2021 with wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Sirianni and his staff decided to play Smith as he went on to break DeSean Jackson’s Eagles rookie receiving record.

Dickerson will be pleased his record is safe

When asked by the Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer before Week 17 if he thought Barkley could break the record,…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-01 17:56:00

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