Saquon Barkley probably won’t play Sunday in the Philadelphia Eagles’ regular-season finale against the New York Giants.
That means former Rams running back Eric Dickerson’s single-season record of 2,105 rushing yards is most likely safe for at least another year.
It also means the Eagles should enter the playoffs with a healthy and well-rested Barkley, who last week became only the ninth NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
And unfortunately, Barkley said, it means that his father, Alibay, might not get to see the family name listed at the top of one of the NFL’s most prominent records. According to Barkley, his father was taking the news harder than anyone, including the star running back himself.
“Our name would have been attached to that,” Barkley told reporters of the rushing record Wednesday. “I see it from that side, too, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is winning football games. He’s the one that raised me to be all about the team, too, so … he’ll get over it.”
Read more: Q&A: Eric Dickerson on Saquon Barkley pursuing his record: ‘I don’t think he’ll break it’
Barkley rushed for 167 yards in Week 17 against the Dallas Cowboys, giving him 2,005 yards this season, a total that places him at No. 8 all time. He is just behind Chris Johnson (2,006) and just ahead of O.J. Simpson (2,003) on the list.
The Eagles improved to 14-2 by beating the Cowboys and clinched the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs, leaving them with nothing left to play for at home Sunday against the Giants, the team that drafted Barkley at No. 2 overall in the 2018 draft but allowed him to walk during free agency last offseason.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said the team will rest many of its starters for the finale. Asked if Barkley would be one of those players, Sirianni said, “Yeah, he’ll probably be somebody that rests.”
“Obviously it’s a very special record that’s been standing for a very long time by a great player,” Sirianni said. “It’s a team record that everybody’s 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 — when the bye was, how guys are feeling, the bumps and bruises we can take care of.
“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. Howie [Roseman, executive vice president] and I discussed a bunch, position coaches, coordinators and I discussed a bunch, I discussed with players and we have just selfless guys that want to do what’s best for the football team. … We felt it was in the best interest of the team.”
Read more: Shut up and run: Eric Dickerson on the history he made and the hurt that came with it
Barkley told reporters: “Coach asked me what I’d like to do. We had a conversation and he called me back and let me know that we were probably going to be resting. … At the end of the day, the most important thing is winning football games and winning in the playoffs. I’ve got a bigger goal in mind” than the rushing record.
He added of his discussion with Sirianni: “I let him know, you want me to play I’m gonna go out there and make sure I get [the record], and if you don’t I’m OK with that, too.”
Dickerson set his record during the 1984 season, back when the NFL season was only 16 games compared to 17 today. The Rams legend broke Simpson’s previous high mark from the 1973 season, when the NFL played only 14 games in the regular season.
In a recent interview with The Times’ Sam Farmer, Dickerson said he was a fan of Barkley’s but definitely was not rooting for the two-time Pro Bowler to replace him in the record books.
“Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not,” Dickerson said. “I don’t pull no punches on that. But I’m not whining about it. He had 17 games to do it? Hey, football is football. That’s the way I look at it. If he’s fortunate to get over 2,000 yards and get the record, it’s a great record to have.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
