Jason Kelce may understand why the Philadelphia Eagles rested running back Saquon Barkley, missing out on a chance to set the NFL's single-season rushing record.
Barkley was 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s record, set in 1984. But with the Eagles already locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC entering Week 18, Barkley sat against the New York Giants.
Travis Kelce said during a recent episode of "New Heights" that people don’t realize how hard it is to rush for 100 yards in the NFL, suggesting he might not have gotten it if he played. But Jason was confident Barkley would have.
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"Yeah, he would have got it. The New York Giants, Trav. He would have f------ blew that thing out the door," Jason said.
"Did I want Barkley to go for the record? You’re goddamn right. I think it would have been awesome to watch it happen."
Travis questioned what the purpose would be in going for the record and risking injury in a pointless game before the playoffs.
"Because it’s a f------ rushing record. Why would I not want to watch that happen!" Jason responded emphatically.
"But I think that it’s the right move to not play him."
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Travis then said Barkley’s record would have required an asterisk because he would have broken it in 17 games, while Dickerson did it in 16 games. But Jason countered that if Barkley had done it, there would be no asterisk.
"If he would have had the same amount of carries Dickerson would have had through 16 games, he would have set the record there too. And we don’t put an asterisk next to Dickerson, who broke O.J. Simpson’s record at 14 games or whatever it was, broke Jim Brown’s at 12 or whatever that was. I just, dude, I think the rushing record is awesome. But I think it’s obviously the right call," Jason said.
Barkley has 345 carries this season, while Dickerson had 379 in his record-setting season.
The former Eagles center said the risk wasn’t worth the reward. If Barkley or one of the Eagles' offensive linemen got hurt and missed the playoffs due to chasing a record in a meaningless game, it would hurt a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Kelce did bring up how cool it would have been for Barkley to have had a chance to break the record against his old team.
"You’re the baddest dude in the NFL if you got that stat, and he had a chance to set that record. He had a chance to do it in the city of Philadelphia for the Eagles. He had a chance to do it against a team that literally did not pay, like, did not value him. They let him walk, and a bunch of fans were burning his jersey just earlier that year," Jason said.
"This could have been an all-time storyline, a historic moment in the NFL. So, yes, I would have loved to seen it, but it’s the right call. It’s the right call. I want to emphasize that."
The Eagles will take on the No. 7-seeded Green Bay Packers at home at 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX with a rested Barkley.
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