Saquon Barkley's offseason approach looks a little bit different heading into his 8th NFL season

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is taking a smarter approach this spring and summer as he gears up for his eighth NFL season.

Rather than worrying about how his workouts stack up against stars like Christian McCaffrey or Derrick Henry, Barkley is keeping the focus on his own body and what it needs to stay healthy to continue performing at a high level.

"You've just got to be smarter, right? You have your moments where you go in there and you grind, you push it," Barkley said via ESPN's Tim McManus. "But the majority of those days is just mobility, conditioning, doing all the things to get your body in shape to perform at a high level. It was a lot of workload [last year], but my body feels great, so that's the most important thing."

Barkley was the focal point of Philly's offense last fall, racking up a record-breaking 2,504 rushing yards on 345 carries between the regular season and playoffs in 2024. He added another 499 yards on the ground and five touchdowns in the postseason en route to the Eagles' Super Bowl LIX victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. 

The Eagles stuck with a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mindset last fall, leaning heavily on Barkley throughout the season. There’s no telling if they’ll rely on him as much this year, but if they do, there's no doubt that his body will be ready to go. 

Barkley isn’t the only one being carefully managed this offseason. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni says every player follows a personalized regimen designed to keep them healthy.

And it’s hard to argue with the results, considering Philly’s starters have largely stayed healthy through both the regular season and playoffs in recent years. 

"Yeah, we always think about every one of our players individually, the reps that they’re getting, what’s good for them, how their body’s feeling," Sirianni said. "I’ve said this before, that takes everybody, right?

"That takes myself, the players talking to me, the players talking to the strength staff and the trainers where we are. So yeah, everybody had individualized plans like they always do. I mean, and we kind of monitored everybody as we went. We got a lot of good work in, Saquon got a lot of good work in and yeah, I’m pleased with how the off-season program has went."