The Eagles’ RB spoke to reporters after their win about being apart of this offense, what he wants to work on, and about the field conditions in Brazil.
The Eagles wrapped up their international trip to South America, and following his hat trick on Friday night, Saquon Barkley spoke to reporters about the opportunity and how it felt to be on the field as an Eagle.
Barkley said the opportunity to play in Brazil was amazing and he was thankful to the NFL. He lauded the energy, calling it amazing, and pointed out how special it was for him to be the first player ever to score a touchdown in South America.
The running back reflected on how they approached the game, and knew that they were facing a tough Packers team. He admitted that they didn’t make it easy on themselves early in the game, but eventually found a rhythm. Barkley said the offensive line played great, and noted that the group was a big factor when making his decision about where to sign this offseason.
Later, he gave the offensive line a lot of credit for making him look good, saying it all starts up front. He didn’t want to talk too much about the past, explaining that he still has a lot of good relationships with players and coaches from the Giants, admitting that Brian Daboll even reached out earlier on Friday to wish his luck in his Eagles debut.
“I’m thankful for the last six years that I had in New York. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without it, and I still got great relationships with all those guys. I even talked to [Brian] Daboll today, he wished me luck. So, still having a great relationship with those guys, but I’m just happy to be here, happy to be with this organization, and I just look forward to the future.”
He acknowledged that there are a lot of things to improve on, and he’s eager to review the film, because off the top of his head he knew there were some areas he’ll need to work on — including in the four-minute offense. Still, he’s excited about this offense and this team.
The running back echoed statements he made in the offseason about how this offense is built so that any guy can have a big week — this week happened to be his, but he’s excited about an offense that he’s maybe not even Top 3 guys that defenses have to prepare for, alongside Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert.
He later said that it was really special, among a group of such talented guys, that on a night that was Barkley-loaded, they weren’t looking for their own touches, but rather trying to get him a fourth touchdown. That’s what you need from a team to be successful, and when it’s Brown or Smith’s turn to take the load, it makes him want to block even better for them.
“That’s my favorite thing about being part of this team is there’s no selfish personalities here. We all have one common goal and I’m excited to be part of that.”
Barkley also talked about the field conditions, and admitted that it was different than what they are used to. He explained that he made a mistake, because during warm-ups he felt comfortable so he opted against using the studs, but that’s different than at full speed, which is when he had issues. After that first drive, he put the studs on, worked on getting his footing, and then it was, “pretty okay.”
He had a lot of great things to say about the fans, while noting that there were a lot of Packers fans, so it didn’t quite feel like a home game, but they did hear some “Go Birds” chants. Barkley was happy they got the win, and now looks forward to playing in Philly in front of their fans, next Monday night.
