Running back Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles completed joint practices against the New England Patriots on Thursday. The two teams will next square off in the NFL preseason Saturday night.
If it were up to the running back, though, the Eagles and Patriots would have skipped straight to the game. Or, at least not had two days of joint practices.
“I hate joint practices, to be honest. I think one day is good,” said Barkley to the media Thursday. “We play in an ego-filled sport with a lot of men.
“More times than not, nothing good comes out of it. When you have the work, it’s good, but then you get the pushing, the shoving and someone says this about you and I’m like, ‘I don’t know about that but you’re this.’ It’s immature when you get to that level.”
Barkley stressed he thought the Eagles offense put in good work against the Patriots this week. The running back also acknowledged it was productive to run plays against a different defense.
Overall, though, Barkley still didn’t give joint practices a ringing endorsement.
“It’s good to go against someone new. We’re definitely at that part of camp where we needed to go against a new face,” added Barkley. “When you do it the right way, it’s good.
“But honestly, I’m not a big fan of joint practices.”
Eagles’ Saquon Barkley Sends Blunt Message on Patriots Joint Practices