Eagles star Saquon Barkley will likely be rested in last game, Eric Dickerson’s single-season NFL rushing record safe

By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley will likely not play in the team’s final game of the season, meaning Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing record will remain safe.

Barkley has 2,005 rushing yards this season, just 101 yards away from Dickerson’s record of 2,105 he set in 1984 with the Los Angeles Rams when NFL teams only played 16 games per regular season; teams now play 17.

But having eclipsed 2,000 yards and clinched the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff seedings in last weeks victory over the Dallas Cowboys, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni announced on Wednesday that Barkley will “probably” be rested in their Week 18 season finale against Barkley’s former team, the New York Giants, to avoid any potential injury which could hamper the team’s playoff run.

“It’s a very special record that’s been standing for a very long time by a great player,” Sirianni told reporters. “It’s a team record that everybody is 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. Again, when the bye was, how guys are feeling, the bumps and bruises we can take care of. We’ve put ourselves in a position to be able to be in this situation. And our goals are to have success and to play good the next game we play. Not only New York, but whoever we play after that. We think this plays into that.

“It’s not easy. 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.”

When asked by the media, Barkley explained that he would have been happy attempting to break the record against the Giants but understood his coach’s decision.

“My reaction was kind of like I told my family, obviously, my family probably wanted it a little bit more than me, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is winning football games and winning the playoffs. So, I’ve got a bigger goal in mind anyway,” Barkley said.

“He asked me if I wanted to play, if I want to go for it. I said on Sunday I probably didn’t care too much for it. When I slept on it, it was like it was an opportunity to implement my name in football history. May never get another opportunity like that again, so I’m down, but at the end of day, I don’t care (about getting the record) if we’re putting the team at risk.

“He’s the head coach for a reason, he makes the decisions, and whatever decision he wanted to make, I let him know if you want me to play, I’m going to go out there and make sure I get it, and if we don’t, I’m OK with that too.”

Although Barkley likely won’t get an opportunity to eclipse Dickerson’s record, it has still been a special first season in Philadelphia for the 27-year-old.

Having spent six seasons with the Giants, Barkley became the ninth running back to hit the 2,000-yard single season rushing mark and was in the running for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award for much of the year.

Through Week 17, Barkley leads the NFL with 345 carries, 2,005 rushing yards, 125.3 yards per game, 378 touches and 2,283 scrimmage yards.

Dickerson himself said he did not want Barkley to break his record while also highlighting that Barkley has one extra game to reach the mark.

“Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. I don’t pull no punches on that,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “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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