Ex-NFL coach Rex Ryan has a strong take on whether Saquon Barkley should play in the regular-season finale against the Giants.
Barkley is 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, but the former Jets and Bills coach says the Eagles won’t — and shouldn’t — play him on Sunday.
“The hell with it, I want him to get the record but there’s no way in heck they’re going to [play him],” Ryan said Monday on “Get Up.” “There’s no chance, you can’t. Your team is set to make a deep run, it has as good a chance as anybody of winning a Super Bowl ring. You’re not going to play this young man.
“I would love to see him stick it to the Giants, are you kidding me? But, no. The right move is to sit him, to rest him and….get everybody rest for a deep playoff run.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter also doesn’t think Barkley will play against the Giants.
“The Eagles didn’t leave Saquon Barkley in the game yesterday after he got to 2,000 yards,” he said on The Pat McAfee Show. “.. I’d be floored if he plays on Sunday against the Giants.”
Dickerson set the record in 16 games in 1984, whereas Barkley, who signed with the Eagles in free agency for $37.75 million after the Giants did not use the franchise tag on him, would be playing in his 17th game this season.
“I don’t think he’ll break it. But if he breaks it, he breaks it,” Dickerson told the Los Angeles Times this week. “Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. 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.”
As for Barkley, he says it’s up to the team to decide.
“I mean, it’s up to them, to be honest, whatever his [head coach Nick Sirianni’s] decision is, I’m all for it,” he said after rushing for 167 yards in Sunday’s 41-7 rout of the Cowboys.
“If his mindset is, we’ll go out there and try it, then I’ll go out there and try it. If his mindset is, let’s get ready for this run, them I’ll for that, too.”
He added: “I really mean that. I came here to do something special, and obviously breaking the record’s special, but I want to a banner up there, I think we all do.”
Said Ryan: “This is a coach’s dream. This is an absolute coach’s dream. When your best players are your best guys, I mean you got a great chance to win.”
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.
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