Eric Dickerson doesn’t support Saquon Barkley in his quest for records

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley needs 268 yards in the next two games to set the NFL single-season rushing yardage record.

One person Barkley can’t persuade to set new standards: current record holder Eric Dickerson.

“I don’t think he’ll break it. But if he breaks it, he breaks it,” Dickerson told the Los Angeles Times this week. “Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. I don’t pay any attention to that.”

“But I’m not complaining about it. He had 17 games to do this? Hey, football is football. That’s how I look at it. If he’s lucky enough to get over 2,000 yards and set the record, that’s a great record to have.”

Dickerson set the rushing record in 1984 with 2,105 yards in 16 games. Barkley rushed for 1,838 yards in 15 games, an average slightly below the record pace (2,083 yards).

But with Jalen Hurts out of Week 17 due to a concussion, the Eagles could turn to their most loyal free agent this offseason to fill an even bigger role against the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants – Barkley’s former team and for some, a chance of potential payback, Dickerson said.

“How ironic it would be for him to break the record against them, the team that let him go,” Dickerson said of the Week 18 game. “A real slap in the face.”

While he may not get the short end of the stick, Dickerson praised Barkley as a “great player” who “is elusive, he’s tough, he runs hard.”

And if Barkley sets the record, Dickerson says he can rest on another mark that he believes will be the hardest to break.

“I’ve always said that I set the longest-lasting rookie record with 1,808 (yards),” he said. “Because you only have one chance. You can only be a newbie once.”