Saquon: Breaking single-season rushing record 'not in God's plan'

Star running back Saquon Barkley is at peace with head coach Nick Sirianni's decision to sit him for the Philadelphia Eagles' regular-season finale against the New York Giants on Sunday.

Barkley has rushed for 2,005 yards this season and is 101 yards shy of breaking Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson's single-season record that's stood since 1984.

"When I slept on it, I was like, this is an opportunity to implement my name in football history," Barkley said Wednesday, according to CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr. "You may never get an opportunity like that again, so I'm down. But I don't care (about it) if I'm putting the team at risk. He's the head coach for the reason. He makes the decisions and whatever decision he wanted to make."

Barkley added: "At the end of the day, it's not in God's plan. He had bigger things in mind. We have a chance to rest and get ready to roll for the playoffs."

The 27-year-old became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season when he surpassed the milestone last Sunday.

However, the Eagles don't have much to play for other than pride this week against the Giants, Barkley's former team before he signed with Philly in the offseason. The Eagles have secured the NFC East title and locked up the conference's 2-seed going into the playoffs.

Sirianni said he decided to sit Barkley because "you try to do what's best for the team."

Barkley admitted that he was ambivalent about chasing the record but changed his tune when he noticed his teammates' excitement for him to try to make history.

"I think it's pretty cool that as bad as I wanted the record, the linemen wanted it too," Barkley said.

No player has ever rushed for two 2,000-yard seasons in a career, but Barkley said he has his eye on hitting that target next campaign. For now, though, he's focused on one goal.

"We didn't come here, I didn't sign here, to break Eric Dickerson's record. We came here to win the Super Bowl," Barkley said, Barkley said, per Zach Berman of PHLY.