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Eagles set to rest Barkley in finale

The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Saquon Barkley had a heart-to-heart talk with his dad that was more coated in heartbreak than hope over the Philadelphia Eagles running back’s pursuit of the NFL single-season rushing record.

Barkley’s stirring chase of Eric Dickerson was over — he will sit out the Eagles final regular-season game Sunday, denying the running back his chance at breaking the mark.

The news came with a tough call with his dad, Alibay.

“He definitely wanted me to play,” Barkley said Wednesday at his locker. “Selfishly for him, you’ve got to think about it … our last name would have been attached to that. I see it from that side, too. At the end of the day, the most important thing is winning football games. He’s the one that raised me to kind of be all about the team, too. He can have his little selfish moment, but he’ll get over it.”

Barkley insisted he recovered from the sting, too.

So will an offensive line that pushed for the star back to set the record, and even fans who wanted to say they were there Sunday at the Linc against the New York Giants and witness a little slice of NFL history.

Barkley will finish the season with 2,005 yards rushing, just 101 yards shy of breaking Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards set with the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.

The Eagles (13-3) clinched the NFC East and the No. 2 seed in the conference, leaving little to play for against the Giants.

That included NFL records.

Coach Nick Sirianni made the final call — after a pair of conversations with Barkley, players, coaches, general manager Howie Roseman — to give Barkley the week off and not risk potential injury to perhaps their most valuable player and only the ninth running back in NFL history to top 2,000 yards rushing in a season.

“May never get another opportunity like that again,” Barkley said. “So, I’m down. But at the end of the day, I don’t care for putting the team at risk. He’s the head coach for a reason. He makes those decisions.”

Elsewhere:

n The Green Bay Packers apparently will have to make their entire postseason run without two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander. Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday that Alexander is undergoing surgery to repair the knee injury that has kept the 2018 first-round pick from playing for most of the past two months.

n The Chiefs will start backup Carson Wentz at quarterback on Sunday in Denver in a game that means nothing to Kansas City, which has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, but could mean everything to the Broncos. They would clinch a playoff berth as the No. 7 seed by beating the Chiefs.

n Jimmy Garoppolo will take his first snaps for the Rams when he starts in place of Matthew Stafford in playoff-bound Los Angeles’ regular-season finale against Seattle.

n Tua Tagovailoa was limited in Wednesday’s practice as the Miami Dolphins quarterback deals with a right hip injury that sidelined him in Week 17.

n Joshua Dobbs will start the season finale at quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers with Brock Purdy out with an elbow injury.

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