Saquon Barkley is set to play in the first playoff game of his career on Sunday, as the New York Giants will square off with the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC wild-card round. Multiple current and former NFL players will be rooting for Barkley to make the most out of his first playoff appearance, including Adrian Peterson.
Peterson sure hopes to see his former team reach the divisional round, but as Barkley revealed during a press conference on Thursday, the one-time NFL MVP award winner also wants the fifth-year running back to “kill it in the playoffs.”
“I know he's not a Giant, AP texted me,” Barkley said. “That's someone who, when I was going through my knee process, that I reached out to. He had great advice and someone I can lean on.
“It's pretty cool when you look at your phone and there's a text from AP saying, ‘Congrats and happy for you and go kill it in the playoffs.' … I'm a big fan of the game and a fan of AP. To get a text like that from one of the greats, it means a lot.”
Barkley was a fan of Peterson growing up, and he even had the opportunity to meet him in 2018.
🔥🙌💯 Full audio of Saquon Barkley meeting Adrian Peterson#GiantsPride
(via @thecheckdown) pic.twitter.com/i2Vv242lGD
— Fanatics View (@fanaticsview) November 2, 2018
The two-time Pro Bowler now has his sights set on doing what he can to help the Giants avenge their regular season defeat to the Vikings.
“I want the ball as many times as needed to win this game,” Barkley said. “Whatever I got to do. That's been my motto throughout the entire season and I'm sticking with it.
“Obviously, I carried the ball a little bit more in earlier in the year, second half of the season not so much, but the job was to get into the playoffs, and we found a way to do that. Whatever we got to do to get the win, I'm willing to do for my team. If it's 40, 50 then it's 40, 50. If it's zero, five then it's zero, five.”
Barkley shined in the Giants’ Week 16 road loss to the Vikings, recording 133 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
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