Eagles' Saquon Barkley isn't concerned with his heavy workload: 'Y'all shouldn't worry about it'

EJ Smith, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Nov 6, 2024

Published in Football

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PHILADELPHIA — In the Eagles locker room after practice, Saquon Barkley barely had time to take a breath.

Hastily walking toward his space and straightening up his locker stall, the Eagles’ running back explained he didn’t have much time to stop and field questions.

“I got like two minutes,” Barkley said. “I have to get to the sauna.”

Fair enough. Barkley is coming off his highest-usage game of the season, touching the ball 30 times in the Eagles’ 28-23 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars with his improbable jukes, spins, and now-trademarked backward hurdle serving as the fulcrum for the team’s offensive output. He made plenty of defenders miss en route to 159 rushing yards and 40 receiving yards, but the hits still piled up for the 27-year-old by the end of the evening.

Managing those hits is why, after briefly explaining the routine he undertakes between games each week, Barkley dashed back out the door for the next step in a lengthy list of mid-week recovery measures.

“It’s the same routine,” Barkley said. “That’s kind of like the biggest thing that I’ve been focused on this season, just keeping on the process no matter what. Whether I touch the ball 30 times or touch the ball 10 times, staying consistent. It’s just being consistent with my massages, being consistent with training work, rehab, rehab, staying strong in the weight room, and working on the side with [Eagles associate strength and conditioning coach Edward Grayer.] Working on my speed throughout the season, all those little things.”

The wear and tear is hard to ignore though, even with a routine that includes conditioning work off to the side with Grayer at the start of some practices while the rest of the running backs do individual drills.

Barkley’s got 177 touches so far this season, which is tied for the third-highest total in the NFL. He’s on pace to finish the year with 376 touches, which would surpass his previous career-high of 352, which he had both in 2022 and as a rookie in 2018. The single-game usage stands out even more; Barkley’s only logged more than the 27 carries he had against Jacksonville three times in his seven-year career.

When asked about Barkley’s workload, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni alluded to the tempered approach during the practice week to balance the hits he takes on game days.

“You try to do what you need to do to win each and every football game,” Sirianni said. “You try to take care of them throughout the week. I think the two games, obviously not last game, but the game before that and the game before that, we were able to get him out in the fourth quarter. You try to monitor it as much as you possibly can, and that’s really our jobs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And [we’re] being aware of it on Sunday.”

“It’s always on our mind with how many touches he has,” Sirianni added.

Barkley, who was named NFC offensive player of the week on Wednesday for a third time this season, has given the Eagles plenty of reason to lean heavily on him to win games in his first year with the team. He leads the NFL in rushing attempts of 10 or more yards and ranks fourth in total yards after contact as well. Benefitting from a change of scenery after signing with the Eagles in the offseason, Barkley is also getting the most room to operate he’s had in his career with a league-high 606 yards before contact.

What does he have to say to those who may be worried about the current workload behind that production?

“If I ain’t worried about it,” Barkley said. “ Y’all shouldn’t worry about it, right?”

Barkley also noted he feels better halfway through this season compared to the way he’s felt in years past because he’s not dealing with injuries the way he has before.

He played through ankle injuries in both the 2023 and 2021 seasons and suffered a torn ACL in 2020.

“Every year is different,” Barkley said. “Every year, you deal with something and I’ve battled through something every year. This year, compared to others, I’m not dealing with injury — last year I had the ankle injury — so that definitely makes things a lot easier. But, like I said, it’s just being more of a pro of trusting the process and falling in love with the journey.”

Compared to his time with the New York Giants, Barkley said being limited for Wednesday practices, along with the other behind-the-scenes measures from the Eagles training staff, have gone a long way as well.

“They do a good job here of taking care of the players and listening to the players,” Barkley said. “The staff here is great, the training room is great, the strength staff is great, even the massage therapists that they bring in, they do a really good job, too. And I’m taking advantage of it.”