The status of Saquon Barkley’s pursuit of the NFL single-season rushing record remains up in the air.
Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said during his weekly radio show with 94WIP on Tuesday that he will meet with players and team brass before deciding whether Barkley will play in Sunday’s regular season finale against his old team, the New York Giants, at Lincoln Financial Field.
The NFC East champion Eagles (13-3) are locked into the No. 2 playoff seed in the NFC, turning the contest against the Giants (3-13) into an ideal opportunity to rest their starters for the postseason.
Barkley, 27, needs 101 yards to break Eric Dickerson’s hallowed mark of 2,105 yards set during a 16-game season in 1984. Barkley has rushed for at least 101 yards in 11 games this season, including Sunday’s 41-7 rout of the Dallas Cowboys when his 167 yards made him the ninth player in NFL history to reach 2,000.
“I’ll talk to our staff, I’ll talk to the players, I’ll talk to (general manager) Howie (Roseman), I’ll talk to (owner) Mr. (Jeffrey) Lurie. I’ll talk to everybody to try and make sure that I’m making the best decision for the football team,” Sirianni said Tuesday.
Sirianni’s next media availability is Wednesday, when he is expected to announce the playing status for Barkley as well as quarterback Jalen Hurts (concussion protocol) and other starters.
There is a precedent for playing Barkley. In the Eagles’ 2021 season finale against Dallas, Sirianni rested several key players but gave wideout DeVonta Smith a chance to break the franchise’s rookie receiving record held by DeSean Jackson. Smith had 41 yards to finish with 916, topping Jackson’s 2018 total of 912.
“If you think back a couple of years ago to 2021, Smitty was going for the rookie receiver record. Everybody else was resting, but we wanted for everyone else — whatever it was — we didn’t play some other guys in that game, but we went and got him that record,” Sirianni said. “Every situation is a little different. Not saying one way or the other or how that’s going to play out or even that I made a decision yet.”
Barkley told reporters on Sunday that he will respect Sirianni’s wishes.
“Whatever his decision is, I’m all for it,” Barkley said. “If his mindset is, we’ll go out there and try it, I’ll go out there and try it. If his mindset is, let’s rest and get ready for this run, I’m all for that, too … I came here to do something special. Breaking a record is special, but I want a banner up there. I think we all do.”
In his first season with the Eagles, Barkley leads the NFL in rushing attempts (345), rushing yards (2,005) and yards from scrimmage (2,283).
