RB Saquon Barkley -- October 25, 2018
Q: How do you approach this week moving forward with some time off?
A: Go back, watch film on yourself, see what you can do better from the first half of the season, see the things you did well, try and improve overall in your game. Take a little bit of time off to just decompress from football, but also keep aware that you can’t take too much time off because you’ve still got to keep your body in shape for another eight games, and come back ready to work.
Q: What do you think the biggest difference of your game is from when they drafted you to eight weeks into your rookie year?
A: I really don’t know what’s the biggest difference. I’m still learning, still trying to figure out what I can do as a player, what type of player I can be. Every day, every time I step out on the field, I’m learning. I’m learning, trying to get better every single day, the good things I do and the things I need to improve on. Definitely just trying to become just an overall better player.
Q: There’s no trading deadline in college obviously. You’ve seen some players leave, there’s speculation of today, (the deadline) is at four o’clock. What is your sense of this whole thing? It’s all new to you.
A: The sense for me is you just don’t know what can happen, but you’ve just got to come in with the mindset that you’ve got to come in and work, push yourself every single day, push your teammates every single day, and just leave it up to the guys that make the decisions.
Q: You’ve had a lot of big plays this year, but the other thing you look at is with the running game, it’s the bottom of the league. Is that a disappointment or what?
A: As a running back, you hold responsibility for that. You want to be definitely up there in the league and in the ranks, and that’s something we can improve on as a team, that’s something that we’re going to have to challenge ourselves to do in the second half of the season.
Q: How do you avoid hitting that rookie wall, is there something you can do to help your body go for the long haul?
A: I think the rookie wall is all in your mind, to be completely honest. There’s going to be wear and tear on your body, that’s just the nature of the sport, no matter if you’re a rookie or if you’re 10 years deep in the league. My mindset is just staying in it every single day, staying positive every single day, continue to work every single day and get better.
Q: I know you’re friends with Kyle (Lauletta). How surprised were you when you heard about that, that he was arrested this morning?
A: Definitely really surprised, don’t know too much about it. That’s more a question for Coach Shurmur.
Q: Doesn’t seem to jive with his character, is that a fair assessment from what you know of him at least?
A: Yeah. I know Kyle really well, and it definitely was shocking. I don’t know too much about it to speak on it to be honest, but yeah I know it’s really nothing. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s probably nothing crazy because of the kind of person he is.
Q: In a season full of distractions, how disappointed are you that there’s another distraction heading into the bye week now?
A: Yeah, like I said, that question right there is more for guys who get paid upstairs, for Coach Shurmur and those guys. I’m just going to stay away from that question and continue to focus on the season, continue to focus on this team and try to be better.
Q: You mentioned the idea of focusing on what you can do better, can you truly take time away from this or are you so driven that it’s going to be hard for you to step away?
A: It’s going to be hard to step away, but like I said, I’m learning every single day and from what I’ve learned from vets all across the league and on this team, sometimes it’s good to step away from it a little bit. You can’t step away from it for so long obviously. When I say step away, it’s not take the whole week off and don’t think about football at all. Maybe one or two or three days, just spend time, do something to get your mind off of it and come back ready to work. Even still, your mind’s still on football, but you’re just stepping away from being on the field. You have time to just (be) with yourself and focus on yourself and what you can do better.
