Saquon Barkley is extra excited for a showdown with Christian McCaffrey, ‘one of the best to ever do it’

Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey shot a commercial together this offseason for Lowe’s.

“It always starts off cool and then somehow, some way we were competing,” Barkley said Thursday.

The two running backs, who are among the best at their position in this generation, and possibly any generation, later went their separate ways. But soon after, they were texting, and one thing led to another before they started playing chess against each other online. “I won, by the way,” Barkley said. During one Pro Bowl trip, Barkley and McCaffrey competed in Connect Four.

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They are friends, to be clear. And Barkley admitted Thursday, three days before the Eagles and McCaffrey’s San Francisco 49ers meet in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs, that there’s a little extra juice on his end for this one, even if the two have no impact on how the other performs on the field Sunday.

“Any time you go against a guy who is such a great back and future Hall of Famer, in my opinion, you definitely want to go out there and perform at a high level,” Barkley said. “It always comes down to, I can’t stop him, he can’t stop me, but I would be lying to you if I didn’t say that you want to go out there and win, especially against a guy like that.”

May the best man win?

It is not hyperbolic to say that whichever star running back performs better could send their team to the divisional round. Both will have a big impact on their team’s success.

Barkley’s offense is facing a banged-up 49ers defense in a game where the Eagles’ running game, which has sometimes been stuck in the mud this season, should find success. Between the two, it’s McCaffrey that has the tougher matchup. The 29-year-old led the NFL in touches (413) and was second in all-purpose yards (2,133), but the Eagles have a stout defensive front and a linebacking duo that could make life difficult for McCaffrey and 49ers tight end George Kittle.

The Eagles finally seemed to get the running game pointed in the right direction over the final month of the season, but the starting offense’s last showing was a miserable second half during the team’s 13-12 road win over Buffalo. Barkley rushed 11 times for 51 yards in the first half, then eight times for 17 yards in the second half. But Barkley, whose 16-game rushing yard production was nearly cut in half year-over-year, expressed confidence that the Eagles have been moving things in the right direction.

» READ MORE: Nakobe Dean’s last Eagles playoff game ended with him on a cart. On Sunday, he wants to soak it all in.

“We got to focus on the little things and make sure we’re all on the same page,” he said. “Usually when we do that, we’re hard to stop.”

The 49ers remain without star linebacker Fred Warner and also are down his replacement, Tatum Bethune, for the rest of the postseason. Fellow linebackers Dee Winters and Luke Gifford were held out of practice for the second consecutive day on Thursday.

“They might be beat up but they’re still a great team over there,” Barkley said. “You don’t get to the playoffs by accident. They had the opportunity to be the No. 1 seed. You don’t get to that by accident.”

Barkley pointed to San Francisco’s game against the Colts and Jonathan Taylor, who Barkley said probably was the best running back in the league. During that Week 16 game, the 49ers held Taylor to 46 yards on 16 carries in a 48-27 San Francisco victory. McCaffrey, meanwhile, carried 21 times for 117 yards and caught six passes for 29 yards and two scores.

Barkley probably watched that game closely this week for the purposes of film study, but he has long talked about his love for studying the game, especially the players who play his position. He has advocated for running backs to be valued more and last year helped bring the position back to the forefront. It’s why he was rooting for McCaffrey, his friend, to become the first running back to ever have 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season twice. McCaffrey finished with 1,202 on the ground and 924 receiving yards.

“I’m a fan of the position,” Barkley said. “I study all of them. I give my hats off to [McCaffrey]. He’s one of the best to ever do it, to be completely honest, and is definitely going to be a challenge for our defense. Our defense is definitely up to the task.”

Barkley said he’ll be watching closely. The time between offensive series is for rest, recovery, and to make adjustments, but in games against other greats, Barkley might find himself looking at the video board a little more or watching the action on the field.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t,” he said. “It’s more of as a fan and an appreciation of the sport and the position that we play.”

Then it’s back to the field to try to one-up the fellow running back he loves to compete against.

» READ MORE: Eagles will again rely on Jalen Hurts’ ‘clutch gene’ as they embark on another playoff run

Lane Johnson (foot) participated in practice and was listed as a limited participant for the second consecutive day. Grant Calcaterra (ankle) was limited after sitting out on Wednesday. Jalen Carter (hip) and Dallas Goedert (knee) remained limited.

Nakobe Dean (hamstring) and Marcus Epps (concussion) were upgraded to full participants Thursday after being limited on Wednesday.

Brett Toth (concussion) remained sidelined, and Landon Dickerson (rest) also sat out Thursday. Dickerson has taken Thursday practices off lately.