Published October 27, 2026 04:06 AM
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley said after Monday night’s loss to the Cowboys that he had addressed his teammates to tell them how important it is that they keep competing, even as they struggle through a five-game losing streak.
The 2-5 Eagles are long shots to make the playoffs, but Barkley reminded teammates that they can still turn the season around.
“I’m not really a big talker, to be honest,” Barkley told reporters. “Felt like the moment was right. I just, how I look at life, I feel like you just never quit. You never give up. You just keep fighting, no matter what, whatever the situation is, how it looks. And I feel like that we have the men in the locker room to do it. We put ourselves in this situation. We’ve got to get ourselves out of it. I know that I’ve got to take more of a a role of being vocal, using my voice. I’m more of a lead-by-example type of guy, but it happens when you have guys banged up.”
Barkley said quarterback Jalen Hurts is ordinarily the team’s vocal leader. Hurts is out for the season because of blood clots, and Barkley said he and some of his veteran teammates have to take it upon themselves to fill that void.
“I think we’re doing a great job leading, and we’re working our ass off,” Barkley said. “And it sucks when the results aren’t going the way you wanted to go. I’m going to sound a broken record, but I really bought into this mindset. Just got to keep believing in the process, keep working and keep going. The results may not be what we want right now, but it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to go back to work. It takes all of us.”
Barkley came into the game with a hamstring injury, aggravated it on his first run, and hurt his back while trying to play while compensating for the lack of mobility in his hamstring. But he said he’s not thinking about shutting things down to preserve his health.
“It sucks when it’s not going the way you want it to go,” Barkley said. “I truly love this game and I feel like if you’re able to go, you’ve got to push your body to the limit.”