Eagles' Saquon Barkley Gets Honest About Sitting Week 18

Is this the right move for the Eagles?

Dec 29, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the football during the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboysat Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the New York Giants in Week 18 action and it doesn't seem like star running back Saquon Barkley will be playing.

Philadelphia already has locked up the No. 2 seed in the NFC and has nothing really to play for in the final week of the season. Because of this, the Eagles will be resting at least some of the starters in the game, including Barkley.

Barkley will finish the season 100 yards behind Eric Dickerson for the NFL single-season rushing record, unless the team changes course over the next few days.

Although the move makes perfect sense, it still is somewhat sad that Barkley will finish so close to the record and not have the opportunity to go for it.

He opened up about his pursuit of the record on Wednesday in a video shared by 94WIP.com's Eliot Shorr-Parks.

"Coach asked me what I'd like to do and we had a conversation," Barkley said. "He called me back and let me know that we would probably be resting. My reaction was that I told my family. Obviously, my family probably wanted it a little more than me. At the end of the day, the most important thing is winning football games and winning in the playoffs. I've got a big goal in mind."

It's unfortunate that Barkley won't have a shot at the record, but maybe that could be the case next year. It's not every year someone gets this close and it isn't even likely, but maybe Barkley could be someone to do it.

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