Good Guy Saquon Barkley Chose Not To Chase Career-High In Final Minutes Against Giants

Published|Updated

Saquon Barkley's return to MetLife Stadium to take on his former team could not have gone much better for him. Not only did Barkley's Philadelphia Eagles dominate the New York Giants 28-3, he was undoubtedly the most outstanding player of the game with 176 yards on the ground and a touchdown. 

It's worth noting that those 176 yards came in just three quarters of action, given that Barkley didn't touch the ball in the fourth quarter of the blowout. What's interesting is that Barkley not getting the ball in the fourth quarter was his own doing.

A video shared by the Eagles showed head coach Nick Sirianni approaching Barkley on the team bench asking him if he wanted to check back into the game and attempt at breaking his single-game rushing record. Barkley needed just 13 more yards on the ground to set a new career high, but declined the offer.

"You’re 13 yards away from your career high. I would love for you to get that, but it’s up to you," Sirianni said.

"It's all good," Barkley replied. 

Sirianni asked him again, and explained that he wanted to see Barkley set a new record, but Barkley ultimately said "It's all good, I'd rather see the young boys eat."

While Barkley explained that he wanted to see the other running backs on the roster get touches, it's hard not to assume that his former team being on the other side of the ball played a factor in him electing to sit out the rest of the game.

Barkley has gotten off to a quick start in Philadelphia as he sits third in the league in total rushing yards with 658 yards to go along with five touchdowns on the ground. 

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.