Saquon Barkley and Jordan Mailata want more rushing, less fighting. Both think the Eagles run game can be great.
The Eagles and Saquon Barkley are riding the run-game rollercoaster in training camp. Their practice with the New England Patriots on Thursday didn’t provide much of a thrill in that regard.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Jordan Mailata succinctly summed up the reasoning behind the offense’s inefficiencies in its second joint practice against the New England Patriots on Thursday.
“Less boxing and more football,” Mailata said.
No, neither team channeled its inner Muhammad Ali and let the punches fly. Pushing, shoving, and grabbing characterized the handful of skirmishes between the Eagles offense and Patriots defense on the final day of joint practices.
» READ MORE: Eagles rookie wide receiver, first-round pick Makai Lemon returns to practice
Nonetheless, those quarrels quashed the Eagles’ momentum, especially on the ground, according to Mailata. Their inability to run the ball effectively on Thursday paled in comparison to Wednesday’s performance, when Saquon Barkley & Co. seemingly exploited every seam.
“The run game had a better flow yesterday,” Mailata said. “There were less fights. The fighting, we’ve got to cut that out, ’cause it kills momentum. And then both sides are now amped up, and now we’re not thinking about our assignment. We’re thinking about roughing the next guy. Which is great, but again, not effective in our scheme and concept of things.”
Barkley didn’t mince words, either, about how fighting can derail the intent of the practice with another team.
“I hate joint practices, to be honest,” Barkley said. “I think one day’s good. But we play in an ego-filled sport with a lot of men.”
He continued: “It’s just more times than not, nothing good comes out of it. When you have the work, it’s good, but then you get the pushing, the shoving, and someone says this about you, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know, but I’m not that. You’re this.’ It’s immature when we get to that level. I’ve got to do a better job, too, ‘cause I’m a little troublemaker sometimes. But I was good this week.”
Barkley got involved in a scrum at one point during 11-on-11s when the backups were on the field. Earlier, tensions also flared between Lane Johnson and Patriots linebacker K.J. Britt. They exchanged shoves after Barkley ran up the middle, picked up just a few yards and tight end Johnny Mundt was blocked to the ground.
The Eagles running backs failed to rip off long gains all morning. Tank Bigsby nearly had one with the starting offense as he bounced outside to the left, but the play was brought back due to a holding penalty.
The one step forward, one step back nature of the run game’s progress throughout joint practices wasn’t concerning to Mailata as the Eagles nail down the new scheme under Sean Mannion. Even though the run game wasn’t at its best on Thursday, Mailata said he still sees the potential in the group as Week 1 looms just 24 days away.
“The running backs are doing a great job, Saquon’s doing a great job of getting to his reads on the run,” Mailata said. “The beautiful thing about our scheme is you can hit anywhere and, again, it’s not just all on Saquon. It’s got to be on us up front. We’ve got to get to our landmarks and win our block up front. Some of that today wasn’t there.”
But that execution was there on Wednesday from the entire rushing unit. Mannion’s vision for the run game, rooted in the wide-zone blocking scheme typically incorporated among offshoots of the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay scheme, is beginning to take shape, Mailata said.
“We were able to see with the misdirections and the way the concept is designed where the ball can hit anywhere,” Mailata said.
» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown connect at Eagles-Patriots joint practices, quieting talk of rift
Barkley said he is excited about the potential of the run game, too. That excitement is unrelated to the performance of the offense in training camp, though, and more rooted in the process.
“I’m super excited, because I know how great this team will be and how great we can be,” Barkley said. “I know what it looks like when we’re all on the same page and we’re playing at a high level. But right now, this whole portion of camp and this part of the season, it’s really about just grinding, putting the little things together.
“The kind of mindset I’m going to have for the rest of the season, just be process-driven. Don’t really get too caught up in the results of what it can be or what it can look like. And just let the process take care of the rest.”
Lane Johnson rejoined training camp this past week after a multi-day absence, but his return brought with it the announcement that 2026 is “probably” going to be his last NFL season. What does the prospect of the All-Pro’s retirement mean in both the short- and long-term? The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Ryan Novozinsky take a look at what the Eagles can expect from Johnson in his 14th year as a pro, and who might be waiting in the wings to replace him. Listen here.
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