By DAN GELSTON
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley appears set to sit out the Philadelphia Eagles final regular-season game Sunday, denying the running back his chance at breaking Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing record.
Barkley would finish the season with 2,005 yards rushing, just 101 yards shy of breaking Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards set with the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.
The Eagles (13-3) clinched the NFC East and the No. 2 seed in the conference, leaving little to play for in Sunday’s home game against the New York Giants.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni declined Wednesday to announce outright which starters would play and which ones would sit out, saying of Barkley, “he’ll probably be somebody that rests.”
Sirianni said he talked with Barkley, in his first season with the Eagles after six years with the Giants, about his decision.
“I think it’s pretty obvious how special this guy is,” Sirianni said.
Sirianni and the Eagles decided it was not worth risking injury to perhaps their most valuable player and only the ninth running back in NFL history to top 2,000 yards rushing in a season.
Win, lose or tie against the Giants, the Eagles will host the Green Bay Packers or Washington Commanders in a wild-card playoff game.
Sirianni had said he planned to speak to everyone, including players, coaches, general manager Howie Roseman and owner Jeffrey Lurie before making his decision.
The Eagles had their bye week in Week 5, and returned from a 2-2 start to win 10 straight games and seize control of the division. But 12 straight games — where Barkley added to his NFL-high 345 carries — also played a role in Sirianni giving the starters one week off before the Eagles open the playoffs at home.
“It wasn’t the easiest decision to go through,” Sirianni said. “We have great people in this building and had a lot of input from a lot of different people, players included.”
Sirianni likely will rest the bulk of the starters — notably quarterback Jalen Hurts, who sat out Sunday’s rout of Dallas with the lingering effects of a concussion — to get them rested and healthy ahead of what the franchise expects will be a meaningful run to the Super Bowl.
“I came here to do something special, and obviously breaking the record is special,” Barkley said after the Eagles clinched the division. “But I want a banner up there. I think we all do. But we gave ourselves a chance with that and clinched the playoffs before and now with the division.”
Barkley should have plenty of company among the starting lineup against the Giants. Hurts was still in the NFL’s concussion protocol on Wednesday and could not practice or play until he was cleared.
Kenny Pickett started for the Eagles last week and ran and threw for a touchdown before he left with injured ribs. Tanner McKee, the third-string QB, threw a pair of touchdown passes as he put the finishing touches on a rout of the Cowboys.
With a pursuit to the Super Bowl ahead, Barkley’s run at the rushing record appears grounded.
“At the end of the day, I had to make the decision on what I felt was best,” Sirianni said.
After he ran for 167 yards in Sunday’s win against Dallas — the 27-year-old Barkley said, he wanted the record, but he would do what was best for the team, even if that meant sitting out the last game of the regular season.
“Rest, I’m fine with that too, because I didn’t come here and sign here just to rush for 2,000 or break a record,” Barkley said Sunday. “I want to do something special, meaning special with the team.”
Barkley signed a three-year deal with the Eagles for $26 million guaranteed and $37.75 million overall, making him the highest-paid running back in franchise history.
The decision also ends that hand-wringing that Barkley would have set the record in an extra 17th game that Dickerson did not have in 1984.
In 1984, Dickerson topped 100 yards rushing 12 times to break O.J. Simpson’s 1973 record with Buffalo of 2,003 yards rushing in a single season. Dickerson needed 379 carries to set the record while Barkley had 345 carries this season.
Simpson set his record in 14 games before the NFL expanded to 16 in 1978. The NFL moved to 17 games in 2021.
Adrian Peterson in 2012 (2,097), Jamal Lewis in 2003 (2,066), Barry Sanders in 1997 (2,053), Derrick Henry in 2020 (2,027), Terrell Davis in 1998 (2,008) and Chris Johnson in 2009 (2,006) also ran for 2,000 yards in a season.
Barkley also set a single-season franchise record for scrimmage yards (2,283), breaking the mark held by LeSean McCoy in 2013 (2,146).
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