Saquon Barkley Made Selfless Choice In Win Over Giants

Former Giants running back Saquon Barkley showed his selflessness in Eagles' 28-3 win over Giants.

Scott Salomon | Oct 23, 2024

Oct 20, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) reacts after a long run during the second half against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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New York Giants

Former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley might have run wild against his old team last week in the 28-3 Philadelphia Eagles win over Big Blue. Still, Barkley, who is all but certain to be “NFC Offensive Player of the Week,” made sure that he shared the winning spotlight with those backs behind him on the depth chart.

Barkley had an opportunity to reach a new career-high in rushing yards on Sunday against his former team. However, when Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni gave him a chance to go for the record—he needed 14 yards to do so–Barkley declined, telling Sirianni that he’d rather “see the young boys eat.”

Saquon Barkley wanted the young guys to play instead of going for his record. What a teammate. @saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/tJi8waO7MY
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 21, 2024

Sirianni, who intended to remove all his starters at the start of the fourth quarter, obliged, giving Kenneth Gainwell and Will Shipley to get some reps.

Gainwell had 13 carries for 56 yards against the Giants. He entered the game with eight carries all season. Shipley had the first eight carries of his NFL career.

Barkley played six seasons with the Giants, who drafted him No. 2 overall in 2018 out of Penn State. During his Giants career, Barkley finished with 5,211 rushing yards on 1,201 carries, plus 2,100 receiving yards on 288 receptions.

Barkley’s career high in rushing yards came on December 22, 2019, in a 41-35 win over the Washington Commanders. In that game, he ran for 189 yards on 22 carries.

Since joining the Eagles, Barkley is off to a fast start. He’s rushed for 658 yards on 108 carries and has 5 touchdowns. He also has 103 receiving yards on 16 receptions and a touchdown, bringing his total scrimmage yards to 761 through six games played. He also has rushed for 100+ yards in three of his starts so far this year.

The Eagles travel to Cincinnati on Sunday to face the Bengals at 1 p.m. ET. The Giants, meanwhile, will fly to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Monday night at 8:15 p.m. ET. The Giants and Eagles will meet again in the regular-season finale on January 5 in Philadelphia, time to be determined.