The pointers shared between Barkley and Gurley revolved around taking carries with the quarterback under center, something that will be much more prevalent in Philly’s offense this year.
For a variety of reasons, Barkley is enthused by the change.
“Under center you can see a little clearer. You’re not blinded,” Barkley said. “When you’re in gun, you’re really kind of focused on the side. You’re able to get your shoulders square easier, like when you have an inside run. From gun, you’ve got to really work on getting your shoulders square so you can see the whole field. From under center it’s easier, you can get downhill a little quicker. You can threaten them with stretches and outside zone a lot more. There’s a lot of unique things you can do.
“And, yeah, it’s no secret what this system is about. I look forward to doing that. It’ll probably be the most I’ve ever done it under center and outside zone and all that good stuff. It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to work on and getting better at and trying to be the best at it.”
He could also use a refresh.
Barkley became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards during his 2024 campaign, winning Offensive Player of the Year on the way to capturing a Lombardi Trophy with the Eagles. Stagnation subsequently set in across Philly’s entire offense last season. Barkley was certainly affected, often unable to find the same room to maneuver and other times looking worn down after logging a league-leading 345 carries the season prior. He managed 1,140 rushing yards in 2025, 54 fewer yards per game and 1.7 fewer yards per carry than his inaugural year with the Eagles.
“I turned it pretty quick,” Barkley said when asked how quickly he turned the page. “You get that little break-up phase, I guess you could call it, for two or three weeks, but everything happens for a reason. Obviously, we didn’t like the way the season ended. I personally didn’t like how my year went. I don’t like how I performed for the team. I don’t feel like I performed at a high enough level.
“That’s the beauty of it. It’s easy when you rush for all the yards and you win the Super Bowl, it’s easy to watch film and move onto the next chapter. But when it doesn’t go the way you want it to be, you’ve got to lock in even more, be more detailed in yourself, be more critical of yourself. You’ve got to be your biggest self critic and just go on back and watch the film and see what I can do better. You find that, you find the weaknesses that you lacked the year prior, and you just go balls to the wall in the offseason.”
Heading into his age-29 season, a point at which running backs often start slowing down, Barkley is determined to come back stronger.
The system could assist in that, as well as a longer offseason recovery period — the silver lining to the Eagles failing short of defending their Super Bowl title. Between the regular season and a playoffs that ended in the Wild Card Round, Barkley took 130 fewer carries in 2025 compared to 2024.
“It’s a little easier when you don’t have to get ready right after the Super Bowl,” Barkley said. “The season didn’t go as long as we want, but, yeah, you get a little bit more time to work on yourself. I felt like I was able to get myself in better shape coming into the offseason. I think that’s a given for everybody, just the fact that you have extra weeks to prepare. It’s been fun. It’s been a fun offseason. Got some time to relax, get my body back and my body right. Now we’re back into the grind of it.”
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