Eagles' Saquon Barkley Isn't 'Worried About' Big Workload: 'Not Dealing with Injury'

In the midst of arguably the best season of his career, Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley isn't paying attention to his high volume of touches.

Speaking to EJ Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Barkley said he's "not worried" about his big workload so far.

"If I ain't worried about it," Barkley said. "Y'all shouldn't worry about it, right?"

Even though Barkley has had injury issues in the past, he doesn't think that should impact how a team uses him right now, especially since his body feels fine right now.

"Every year is different," he said. "Every year, you deal with something and I've battled through something every year. This year, compared to others, I'm not dealing with injury— last year, I had the ankle injury—so that definitely makes things a lot easier. But, like I said, it's just being more of a pro of trusting the process and falling in love with the journey."

Barkley's 177 touches through eight games is tied with Josh Jacobs and Derrick Henry for third-most in the NFL. His current pace of 22.1 touches per game equates to 376 for the entire season, which would be 24 more than he has had in a season in his career.

For the sake of comparison, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey led the league with 339 touches in 16 games last season. He did deal with a calf injury leading into their first playoff game against the Green Bay Packers but was able to play.

It's unclear if that calf injury contributed to the Achilles tendinitis that has kept McCaffrey out for the 49ers' first eight games this season. He's in a similar position as Barkley because they are both running backs who take on a heavy workload and had injury issues in their past.

The Eagles haven't really overextended him in a game this season. His single-game high for touches is 30 done in Sunday's 28-23 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he only played 72 percent of the offensive snaps in that game.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is working in days off for Barkley when he can. The two-time Pro Bowler was limited in their first practice this week on Wednesday with a rest designation.

Given the nature of the running back position, there's always increased risk of an injury. It's not really something you can predict to happen. The Eagles are taking all the necessary precautions to keep Barkley healthy and fresh for the stretch run.

Signing Barkley during the offseason was a stroke of genius for Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. The 27-year-old has 1,071 yards from scrimmage and eight total touchdowns.

The Eagles will go for their fifth straight win on Sunday when they take on the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.