With Philadelphia’s postseason berth secured, Sirianni suggested Barkley will be one of the starters rested as the Eagles prepare for the playoffs.
“It’s probably going to be someone who gets a rest,” Sirianni said.
If so, Barkley will finish the regular season 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s NFL record of 2,105 yards, set in 1984.
“It’s obviously a very special record that a great player has held for a long time. It’s a team record that everyone is involved in. You weigh all those things. But at the end of the day, you just try to do the best.” for the team.”
Nick Syrianni
Whether he should get a chance to challenge for the rushing title was a hot point of debate in Philadelphia and beyond this week. The Eagles (13-3) have clinched the NFC East division title and are locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC, making the Giants game irrelevant from a playoff positioning perspective.
With a bye in Week 5, Philadelphia has played 12 consecutive games, which influenced the decision not to sit some core players.
“It’s obviously a very special record that a great player has held for a long time. It’s a team record that everyone is involved in. You weigh all those things,” Sirianni said. “But at the end of the day, you just try to do what’s best for the team. When was the break, how the guys are feeling, the bumps and bruises we can take care of. We’ve put ourselves in a position to be in this situation. “It wasn’t the easiest decision to make, but we have wonderful people in this building and we got a lot of input from a lot of people, including the players.”
Syrianni said he spoke with Barkley. He did not reveal the content of those discussions, but noted that this team has “selfless guys who want to do what is best for the football team.”
Sirianni also revealed that quarterback Jalen Hurts remains in concussion protocol. He suffered the injury in Week 16 against the Washington Commanders and did not play on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
Opinion was divided in the Philadelphia locker room following the Week 17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Right tackle Lane Johnson was leaning toward resting the starters, under the premise that “it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Meanwhile, left tackle Jordan Mailata said he planned to “push” the starters to play against New York.
“It’s an opportunity to make history,” Mailata said. “We never really talked about the Giants next week, but we had a feeling that if we don’t try today, we might be out. We don’t know. Coach hasn’t said anything yet. We’ll see.”
Barkley said he would be fine with whatever Sirianni decided.
“Whatever their decision is, I’m all for it,” Barkley said. “If your mentality is, let’s go out and try, I’ll go out and try. If your mentality is, let’s rest and prepare for this race, I’m all for that too. … I came here to do something special. Beat a record is special, but I want a sign up there, I think we all do.”
With his 167-yard performance against Dallas, Barkley became just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards.
