In the Philadelphia Eagles’ 28-3 victory over Big Blue last week, former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley may have had a wild game against his former team. Barkley, who is almost guaranteed to earn “NFC Offensive Player of the Week,” nevertheless, made sure that the backs behind him on the depth chart shared the winning glory.
Against his old team on Sunday, Barkley has a chance to set a new career best in rushing yards. But Barkley refused to go for the record when Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni offered him the opportunity—he needed 14 yards to do so—stating that he would prefer to “watch the young boys eat.”
Sirianni complied, allowing Kenneth Gainwell and Will Shipley to gain some playing time. Sirianni had planned to take out all of his starters at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Against the Giants, Gainwell had 13 carries for 56 yards. He had eight carries this season going into the game. Shipley’s NFL career began with eight carries.
Barkley spent six seasons with the Giants, who selected him out of Penn State with the second overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Barkley concluded his Giants career with 2,100 receiving yards on 288 receptions and 5,211 running yards on 1,201 carries.
In a 41-35 victory over the Washington Commanders on December 22, 2019, Barkley set a new career high in running yards. He ran 22 carries for 189 yards in that contest.
Barkley is having a great start to his career since joining the Eagles. On 108 carries, he has ran for 658 yards and five touchdowns. After six games, he has 761 total scrimmage yards, including 103 receiving yards on 16 receptions and a score. Additionally, in three of his starts this season, he has ran for 100 yards or more.
At 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, the Eagles will travel to Cincinnati to play the Bengals. At 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday, the Giants will take a plane to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers. The regular-season finale between the Giants and Eagles is scheduled for January 5 in Philadelphia at an unspecified time.
