Saquon Barkley won't be chasing history in Week 18.
Barkley will not play in the Philadelphia Eagles' regular-season finale Sunday against his former team, the New York Giants, head coach Nick Sirianni announced, foregoing an opportunity to break Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record.
"It's a very special record that's been standing for a very long time by a great player," Sirianni said, via team transcript. "It's a team record that everybody is involved in, so you weigh in all those things.
"But at the end of the day, you just try to do what's best for the team. Again, when the bye was, how guys are feeling, the bumps and bruises we can take care of.
We've put ourselves in a position to be able to be in this situation. And our goals are to have success and to play good the next game we play. Not only New York, but whoever we play after that. We think this plays into that.
"It's not easy. It wasn't the easiest decision to go through, but we have great people in this building and had a lot of input from a lot of different people, players included."
Barkley was happy to run down history, but ultimately understood his coach's decision and supported it.
"[Sirianni] asked me if I wanted to play, if I wanted to go for it," Barkley said Wednesday, via ESPN. "I said, 'On Sunday, I probably didn't care too much for it. When I slept on it, it was an opportunity to implant my name in football history and I may never get an opportunity like that again. So, I'm down. But at the end of the day, I don't care for putting the team at risk.'
"He's the head coach for a reason. He makes those decisions and whatever decision he wanted to make, I let him know if you let me play, I'm going to go out there and make sure I get it. And if I don't, I am OK with that, too."
Barkley enters Week 18 with 2,005 rushing yards, needing 101 yards against the Giants (3-13) to surpass Dickerson's record of 2,105 set in 1984 with the Los Angeles Rams. Dickerson's mark will stand pat for 40 years (barring Baltimore Ravens RB Derrick Henry running wild, as he is second in the NFL with 1,783 yards).
Having Barkley sit or play and chase the record with the Eagles (13-3) already locked into the NFC’s No. 2 seed was not a decision taken lightly. Head coach Sirianni discussed it with the front office, his coaching staff and Eagles players before Barkley got the green light to seek history.
Following six seasons in New York, Barkley signed with the Eagles and has become one of history's finest free-agent acquisitions.
He became just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards, accomplishing the feat in Week 17 against the Dallas Cowboys. Barkley also became the very first 2,000-yard rusher to hit the milestone with his second NFL team.
During his time with the Giants, Barkley had his share of injury issues and that history likely played at least a part in the thinking of shutting him down. Entering the final week, Barkley leads the NFL with 345 carries, his 2,005 rushing yards, 125.3 yards per game, 378 touches and 2,283 scrimmage yards.
He'd already well surpassed his previous career highs in carries (295) and touches (352 twice), so worries about his workload were glaring, especially as the NFC East champions are hoping to make some noise in the postseason.
In his first game playing against the Giants back in Week 7, Barkley was sensational to the tune of 176 yards and a touchdown on only 17 carries. Consequently, Sirianni asked Barkley during the 28-3 blowout if the RB wanted to remain in the game to set a new single-game career high. At the time it was 189 yards and Barkley declined. During his remarkable season, Barkley blew past his previous game high with a Week 12 showing of 255 yards.
This time around, Barkley won't be going back in against the Giants, either, as the onus on him emerging unscathed for the Eagles' playoff run has taken precedence over individual history.
"It kind of would have been a full-circle moment," Barkley said of getting the record against the Giants, "but at the end of the day it wasn't in God's plan. I've got bigger things in mind, and we get a chance to rest and get ready to roll for the playoffs."
