After pulling off one of the best running back seasons in NFL history, Saquon Barkley has been taking things a little easier this offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, you\u2019ve just got to be smarter,\u201d Barkley said.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean he hasn\u2019t worked hard. The 28-year-old reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year has worked hard this offseason. But there\u2019s a time to grind and a time to relax and he\u2019s been making sure to give his body time to rest after a really heavy workload in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the beauty of it is,\u201d Barkley said on Tuesday. \u201cI don\u2019t know how many touches I had (482 in the regular season and postseason), nor how many yards (2,857 from scrimmage), but it doesn\u2019t feel like it. I feel really good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m entering my prime. I just gotta continue to have the mindset of listening to everyone, buying into whatever they want me to do. Whatever they want me to do, try to do it at the best of my ability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Entering his prime!?<\/p>\n
After having a 2,000-yard season!?<\/p>\n
Barkley in 2024 had an all-time running back season. He became just the ninth back in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in the regular season and broke Terrell Davis\u2019s record for rushing yards in a regular season and postseason combined. And he capped it all with a Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in February.<\/p>\n
It might be hard for some players to find their motivation after all that, but not Barkley.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that drives me is the same thing that has driven me since I was a little kid,\u201d Barkley said. \u201cI\u2019ve said this since I got into the league and I don\u2019t mean it in an arrogant way. I want to be the best running back to ever play or at least one of the best running backs to ever play. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s actually a way you can prove who\u2019s the best.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s always been my motivation and I feel like God\u2019s blessed me with the unique ability and put me through a lot of adversity and that\u2019s still going to be my mindset. The love of the game, wanting to win and wanting to compete and wanting to be great, it\u2019s always going to push me no matter if we win four Super Bowls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barkley admitted that rushing for 2,000 yards again would be \u201cpretty cool\u201d and it is something that no back in NFL history has ever done. But he also admitted that he didn\u2019t go into last year with the goal to rush for over 2,000. It just sort of happened that way.<\/p>\n
Always a student of the game, Barkley on Tuesday referenced watching \u201cA Football Life: Emmitt Smith\u201d and noted that Smith was a goal-setter. So is Barkley. But he\u2019s taking care of the little things on the way to those big goals.<\/p>\n
For now, that means a rep off here or there in practice. Listening to head coach Nick Sirianni or running backs coach Jemal Singleton or the trainers or his mentors about how to help his body recover after a season with a ton of touches. Barkley said he even reached out to a couple of greats \u2014 Marshall Faulk and Edgerrin James \u2014 from his contact list for advice.<\/p>\n
And when asked if he had spoken to any of the previous 2,000-yard rushers to see if they had any tips for how to come off a season like that, it sparked an idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should reach out to Derrick (Henry),\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m good friends with Derrick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barkley said at one point in his career, it would have been harder for him to take things easy in an offseason. He would have seen clips of Henry or Christian McCaffrey working out and worried that he was falling behind. He\u2019s still that competitive, but he\u2019s more pointed with that competitiveness.<\/p>\n
And he said it actually wasn\u2019t hard to rest this offseason, \u201cbecause everyone that I trust basically told me to sit my a\u2014 down for a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n