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If there is one game Saquon Barkley wants back, it’s Super Bowl 59.
The Philadelphia Eagles throttled the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. Barkley, however, had 25 carries for 57 yards – a paltry showing compared to his record-setting season in which he rushed for 2,005 yards during the regular season, added 443 in the three playoff games and scored 21 touchdowns by the time the confetti fell on the Eagles in New Orleans.
Last season ended with a home wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers after a second straight NFC East title but a much more pedestrian campaign for the offense.
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“So that’s a motivation for me – try to get back to that game,” Barkley told USA TODAY Sports in an exclusive interview on July 15. “That’s why I train the way I train. I would love to have had a faster start last year, but you can’t get caught up in the stats. You can’t get too caught up in numbers. Some of my better years weren’t based off numbers. It was based off how I handled myself in certain situations.”
Barkley rushed for more than 100 yards in a game three times – twice in the final four weeks of the regular season and again in the playoffs last season, down from 14 instances (including playoffs) in 2024 – as the Eagles' offense sputtered. Injuries along the offensive line exacerbated an inefficient running game. Kevin Patullo, the former offensive coordinator, took the fall and was reassigned at the end of the year and left the organization.
Saquon Barkley on Eagles' new offensive coordinator
Despite the finish, Barkley felt his best games of the season came in the back half of 2025. That has him feeling confident, especially with Sean Mannion taking over as OC.
“For me personally, it’s not always stats, because every game presents a different challenge. Did I have better stats in the last 5 games? Yes,” Barkley said. “I just felt like how I was running the ball, how I was breaking tackles, I just feel like I get stronger as the season goes on, that’s why I think statistically in Philly’s history I’m one of the better playoff running backs.”
Winning the Super Bowl is the only thing that matters on the field for Barkley. Once achieved, it’s time to do it again, which is the challenge Barkley and the Eagles are pursuing after falling off the mountaintop last year.
“There is going to be one winner and thirty-one losers,” Barkley said, “and the losers are all the same.”
The hurdle
Barkley spoke to USA TODAY Sports while promoting his new advertising campaign with DIRECTV, which is a play on his famous backward hurdle over a would-be tackler in the 2024 Week 9 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The spot features "Barkley" (OK it's actually a stunt double) performing various hurdles.
Looking back on the play two years later, Barkley said he never thought it would continue to carry this much cultural relevance.
“When I got to the locker room and got to see the play, I realized I was able to do something pretty cool. It’s something, it’s a play I’ll never forget. But I also don’t want to be remembered for that play.
“I’m happy I was able to make that play. But I’m ready for the next one.”
Barkley also spoke to USA TODAY about Mannion, his former teammate A.J. Brown (now with the New England Patriots), recruiting LeBron James to join the 76ers and more.
Questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
USA TODAY: Commercials are nothing new for you. What makes this one special?
Saquon Barkley: “This one was different. Shout out to my stunt double. He took a lot of load off me to be completely honest. But it was pretty cool just how – I was able to see it in real-time, they were showing me how they were going to create this, do that. But I kind of like acting, a little bit. You get to see how the movie’s made. You see this set and scene and you’re like, ‘How did they do all that?’ They had me do something so little and it transferred to something pretty cool. But that was awesome. Also just spending a day with DIRECTV, and seeing what they’re about – I’ve been a fan a long time but this is my first time working with DIRECTV. I hope people can enjoy the spot.”
USAT: What about that creative process excites you?
SB: “As I get older and start thinking about other stuff I want to do in my career, it’s kind of cool just to see how the movie is made, how the spot is made. It’s a lot of hard work. Everything – I’m a cornball when it comes to this – but everything comes down to a team. It takes a great team to accomplish everything you want to. If you want to be successful in football, if you want to be successful in life, if you want to be successful in the DIRECTV spot, it takes a team. It takes a stunt double. It takes a producer. It takes a cameraman. It takes multiple takes. Even if you think you get it in one take, I’ve learned, you’re gonna have to do a little bit more. But just being involved in it is pretty cool.”
USAT: What have been your impressions of Sean Mannion?
SB: “You got to respect a man that’s super smart. That’s something that you can see from the start. He loves ball. He’s young. He has the opportunity of a lifetime and I feel like he’s going to take advantage of the opportunity.”
“I’m excited for him. I don’t want to get too much in the X’s and O’s. … I’m excited for him. I think, not only for me as a player, but for our offense, he’s going to bring out the best of us.”
“We’re all buying in to something new. I’m a big believer – I was able to get a fresh start and see what that was able to do for my career. It’s the same thing. You get a fresh start with everybody. It’s a new system. We all got to learn and adapt. We’re all winning and able to do.”
USAT: How would you describe A.J. Brown as a teammate?
SB: “I think A.J. Brown is one of my favorite teammates, one of my favorite people I’ve ever been around. (Kids will come up to me and say) how do you feel about A.J. getting traded?
“I’m gonna miss him. I feel that way for any teammate we lose. A.J. is a heck of a player, a heck of a man. He’s going to be missed. But that’s football. You got to adapt.
“I’m happy for him. He’s at a spot he likes and I know he’s been a Patriot fan for a long time. He’s got to do what’s best for him and his family. And we got to do what’s best for us.”
USAT: What does that mean to be part of a group (of elite running backs)?
SB: “It’s an honor to be a part of that group, it’s a lot of those guys that I respect. We’re competitive. We’re all competitive. I want everyone to do well. I just want to be the best. But I also want to be the best by winning the championship, so whatever that means, however that looks, at the end of the day – if we’re holding the Lombardi Trophy, it’s a win for me.”
USAT: Any message for LeBron to join the Sixers?
SB: “I missed out on this: some of the best golf in the world. I’m probably a 7 or 8 handicap, probably 8 … you’re gonna get some good golf. I know he’s into the golf thing. He’s a little addicted. Welcome to the family. That would probably be my last pitch to him.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Saquon Barkley on missing A.J. Brown, another new OC and that hurdle | Exclusive
