Saquon Barkley searching for answers after sluggish start

Saquon Barkley searching for answers after sluggish start originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

When things aren't going well and Saquon Barkley needs a fresh set of eyes, he has a pretty impressive list of friends he can call for advice. Guys like Derrick Henry, Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson.

Safe to say he took advantage of that group of friends this week.

I mean, it literally was like, Hey, bleep ain't working, what do you see? What can I do?'" Barkley said at his locker Friday. And just the honest answers that they give me, it's important."

Barkley didn't want to say specifically which guys in his all-pro running back circle he talked to this week - I'm trying not to brag" - but the details aren't what's important.

What's important is that he is doing everything he can to figure out how to kick-start his 2025 season after a sluggish start.

I feel like I say it a lot, but it's probably one of the coolest things of being in my position that I can reach out to a lot of special running backs before me and ask them what they're seeing and kind of get their view on how can I attack defenses when they're attacking us the way they've been," he said.

And I think it just starts with (something) so simple as my steps. So simple as getting my eyes in the right place. So simple as getting my shoulders square. And then getting that connection with the guys up front.

People want to see the long runs and the 200-yard games and the 150-yard games, and obviously I want that, but the way that stuff comes is by just simply doing simple better and that's what I look forward to."

Barkley, who set an NFL record last year with 2,504 rushing yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry, is averaging a pedestrian 3.3 yards per carry this year through three games, which ranks 23rd out of 29 backs with at least 30 carries.

Only two Eagles running backs have had a lower average through three games in the last 30 years - LeSean McCoy was at 3.0 in 2014 (when he wound up rushing for over 1,300 yards), and Miles Sanders was at 3.1 in 2019. Before that you have to go back to Thomas Sanders, Heath Sherman and Herschel Walker in the early 1990s.

If anything, I think it's made him more hungry," veteran running back A.J. Dillon said of Barkley. Obviously, the guy's a competitor. I knew he was a competitor but getting in here it's everything he does, whether it's the meeting room or shooting baskets on the court that we have inside, whatever it is, you're going to have that same approach."

Barkley said some of the best advice he got this week came from Peterson, who actually reached out to him.

He was like, Every time there's a pass or a run, make it all look the same,'" Barkley said.

In other words, don't give away the play by setting up or lining up just a tad differently depending on pass or run. Barkley said he didn't think he was doing that a lot but appreciated the advice.

But it's not just Barkley. The offensive line hasn't blocked particularly well, and Kevin Patullo's play calling - at least until the second half Sunday - hasn't been particularly inspiring.

I think it could be due to a few things, but we just need to get back to doing what we do best and finding our bread and butter plays and getting to it and not always chasing things and making sure we're calling stuff that we're really good at," Cam Jurgens said. And we can make a lot of plays work, but there's certain things that we do well."

Barkley is very hard on himself and even last year, when he had perhaps the greatest season ever by a running back he spoke often about what he could do better.

He's definitely doing a lot of that now.

I think we definitely could be a little more detailed, starting with myself," he said. Everybody wants it to look a certain way, similar to what it looked like last year. And I would love it that way, too.

Three yards or less than four yards per carry is not good enough. Got to get the ugly runs to set up the big ones. So we're close, but every week's going to be a different challenge. We know teams are going to come in with the challenge to stop us. And I think we've got to do a better job of accepting that challenge and attacking. And that's what we plan to do this week."

Last year, Barkley had 32 carries over 15 yards, or one every 13 rushing attempts. This year he has one carry over 15 yards on 58 carries. Last year, he had 13 runs over 30 yards. So far this year, he doesn't have any.

Despite all of it, the Eagles are 3-0, and they'll look to go 4-0 Sunday in Tampa against a 3-0 Buccaneers team that's 5th in the NFL in run defense, allowing 84 yards per game and just 3.6 yards per carry.

The Bucs haven't allowed a 100-yard back in their last 11 games, since Kareem Hunt of the Chiefs had 106 yards in Week 9 last year.

Tampa is 6-1 in their last seven games against the Eagles, including 4-1 vs. Nick Sirianni. That includes a couple blow-out playoff wins after the 2021 and 2023 seasons.

Barkley only averaged 4.0 yards per carry or worse three times all last year. The Steelers held him to 3.4 yards per carry, the Browns to 2.6 and the Chiefs 2.3 in the Super Bowl.

He's already been at 4.0 or worse three times this year.

Teams were continuing to try to stop the run last year," he said. That was the focal point to stop the Eagles last year, too. They're just doing a better job of it, and we've got to do a better job of just adjusting and accepting that challenge and having more of an attack mindset.

And that starts with me. And that's something that I got to do a better job of. And hopefully I'll be able to show that this week."