A return for Saquon Barkley is looking more and more likely ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Monday Night Football game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The running back suffered a hamstring injury during the Eagles’ game earlier in the month against the Los Angeles Rams. Barkley has missed the Eagles’ last two games a result but he has returned to practice.
Now back on the field, Barkley spoke to the media and admitted that he pushed to play at the weekend against the Carolina Panthers. With so many important players missing for the Eagles, having Barkley back on the field will provide a sliver of hope ahead of the remaining weeks.
However, Pete Prisco is not convinced that the 29-year-old’s return will actually make that much of a difference from what he has seen over the last 18 months from Barkley.
Pete Prisco rips Saquon Barkley live on air ahead of Eagles return
It has not been a great start to the 2026 season for Barkley who has managed 182 yards and no touchdowns through his opening four appearances. Despite showing his quality over the years, Prisco is not convinced Barkley is still all that.
“He hasn’t been good since they won the Super Bowl. Let’s be real, he wasn’t good last year. A lot of it had to do with the offensive line. He also wasn’t very good. His offensive line that he has now isn’t very good either,” Prisco said on CBS.
“Don’t expect him to step in there and just be Saquon Barkley, because it’s going to be tough sledding. Think about it: you’re facing a quarterback who doesn’t scare anybody, really. You’re facing an offensive line that has four guys on there that probably shouldn’t be. Some of them shouldn’t be starters.
“I think you’d think he would help, but if the offensive line isn’t blocking now, the Cowboys aren’t great in the run game either. We saw Bucky Irving a couple weeks ago run wild on him.”
The Eagles do need Barkley to pull a rabbit out of the hat, as they are now set to play the remainder of the season without quarterback Jalen Hurts. Whether he is able to return with a game-changing impact remains to be seen.
It has certainly been a difficult season for the Eagles and Nick Sirianni will be looking to lean on the likes of Barkley in an attempt to end the year on a respectable note. The NFC East has been fairly poor so far, with top spot only one win away for Philadelphia.
Read more: