Saquon Barkley always defended former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. But Barkley is “super excited” now that the Eagles have a new play-caller.
Barkley spoke with NFL Network’s “The Insiders” late last week, offering his first public comments since Patullo was demoted and Sean Mannion was hired as the new OC.
“I’m super excited about it,” he said. “I’m going on year nine, which is crazy to say, and I’ve had a lot of different coaches and head coaches and been a part a lot of systems and I don’t think I really came across a system like this, and for me it’s just refreshing when you get something new (and) you get to learn something new.
“I got to meet him. We didn’t really talk about X’s and O’s, it was just an introduction and got to meet a lot of the new guys on (the coaching staff). But as a competitor, you love it. You love the challenge of putting yourself in a new system and doing the things that you do really well and also things that you need to improve on and that they’re going to challenge us to do.
“And I feel like we are able to have that mindset as an offense and buy into that. I think the sky’s the limit.”
Saquon Barkley
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs the ball during the second half of an NFL wild card playoff football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia.(AP Photo/Terrance Williams)
After a record-setting debut season in Philadelphia that ended with a Super Bowl LIX title, Barkley and the Eagles had a rough 2025 campaign. Patullo’s offense was frustrating to watch in his lone season in charge, and the inability to get Barkley going was a big part of that.
Barkley became just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season in 2024. This past season, he had only 1,140 yards, averaging 4.1 yards per attempt.
That was one of the reasons why Patullo, who later left for a new role with the Miami Dolphins, was demoted. Mannion, the former Green Bay Packers assistant who comes from the Mike Shanahan tree and played under Sean McVay, was hired to replace him.
And Barkley is excited for what lies ahead in Mannion’s scheme.
“Very creative, super smart,” Barkley said. “All the guys that we hired are super smart and competitive. They want to be great, and they’re excited with the talent that we have.
“And I think we buy in to everything that’s new and continue to grow. We have our standard and all the things that we do at a high level. I feel like what we did last year is gonna be in the past. You gotta learn from it, and I know we have the guys that are willing to learn from it.
“We just have to go out there in OTAs and get ready and compete there and learn the play book. We have the talent. We have talent and we have great coaches. Now we just have to put it all together. We’ve made a lot of changes on offense with the coaching staff. So excited to get in the building and learn something new. And just go out on the field and put the last year in the past.”