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Heading into Week 18's game against the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is 101 yards away from becoming the NFL's all-time leading single-season rusher.
When Week 18 comes to an end, Barkley will almost certainly still be 101 yards short of Eric Dickerson's record, as Nick Sirianni has made the controversial decision to bench the Penn State product against his former team.
Fans, understandably, are mixed on the situation, but how does Barkley feel about the decision? Well, at his locker on Wednesday, the league's leading rusher explained how he feels about spending Week 18 in street clothing, for better or worse.
“I mean, he asked me if I wanted to play, if I wanted to go for it,” Saquon Barkley told reporters, per Tim McManus of ESPN.
“I said, on Sunday, no, I probably didn't care too much for it, and then I slept on it and an opportunity to put my name in football history, I may never get another opportunity like that again, so I'm down at the end of the day,” Barkley told reporters. “I'm down, but like, I don't care for putting the team at risk. He's the head coach for the reason. He makes his decisions, and whatever decision he wanted to make I let him know if you want me to play, I'm gonna go out there and make sure I get it, if I don't, I'm okay with that too… That's what I tell my family: We didn't come here, I didn't sign here, to break Eric Dickerson's record. We came here to win the Super Bowl.”
Would it be cool to see Barkley run for like 120 yards against his former team, capping off an all-time great season with an accolade the Eagles would be able to celebrate in all sorts of different ways moving forward, from a banner in The Linc to all sorts of merchandising opportunities? Most definitely, but if he went down on the second play on the Meadowland's notoriously bad turf and missed the playoffs, everyone in the organization would never hear the end of it.
Nick Sirianni revealed his decision to Saquon Barkley on Wednesday
So, how did Nick Sirianni share the news with his team? Well, he explained that to reporters shortly after he revealed it to his players.
“Yeah, we’re going to rest some guys. We’re locked into that No. 2 seed, so we’re going to rest some guys. There are going to be some guys that are resting,” Sirianni told reporters. “There are going to be some guys that are in reserve roles. You can’t obviously rest everybody with the roster. Yeah, that’s our plan moving in here forward.”
How did Barkley feel about that news? Well, Sirianni didn't want to share the specific details, but he noted that they did have a personal conversation all the same.
“I’ll keep my conversations private with these guys,” Sirianni said. “Just discussing with him and where he was and what he felt. You guys can talk to him, but I’ll always keep my conversations private with these guys.”
Are the Eagles doing the wrong thing by holding Barkley out? Will public sentiment force a change? Or will another Week 18 injury prove why Sirianni's decision was right on the money? While only time will tell, one thing is for sure: it's clear this decision will discussed for years.
During his conversation with Nick Sirianni, Saquon Barkley expressed interest in going for the record but was also mindful of not putting the team at risk. pic.twitter.com/JIy75rBsWT
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) January 1, 2025
