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 Doesn’t Hold Back on Patriots Joint Practices
Barkley ranted a bit about the distractions that come with joint practice fights. But interestingly, ESPN’s Tim McManus reported Barkley was part of the testosterone that boiled over between the Eagles and Patriots this week.
The running back addressed that to reporters.
“I have to do a better job, too, because I’m a little troublemaker sometimes, but I was good this week,” said Barkley.
Overall, though, Barkley has an approach to joint practices that a lot of pundits and fans have for the preseason. Of course it’s better to be playing well. But it’s dangerous to put too much stock in success or failure during August.
“Joint practices, I don’t try to look too much into it. I don’t look too much into the good, I don’t look too much into the bad. It’s all about the process,” said Barkley.
“Are we doing the little things right? I feel like we did a really good job of that.
“There’s a lot we can still work on. We just get better from it and move on.”
Eagles Looking to Bounce Back in Week 2 of Preseason
The Eagles might not play many of their starters versus the Patriots on Saturday night after the teams practiced against each other for two days. But Philadelphia’s offense still has to be hopeful the unit does a better job indicating it’s on the right track this week.
In the preseason opener last week, the Eagles only had 159 total yards. That included 83 passing yards.
The Eagles were also 0-for-9 on third downs and controlled the ball for under 19 minutes.
Preseason results are largely irrelevant. But with new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion in his first season, the Eagles can feel a lot better about their offense if they play better in Week 2 of the exhibition campaign.
Eagles’ Saquon Barkley Sends Blunt Message on Patriots Joint Practices