Every action has a purpose for Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who is meticulously preparing for a full football season long before the very first kickoff. As important as it is to report to Training Camp in tip-top shape, it is every bit as important, if not more so, to maximize the day-to-day hours between games.
That is exactly what Barkley does, as he discusses here while sitting at his locker at the team’s NovaCare Complex preparing for a game in the 2025 campaign.
Sunday, post-game
“The game ends and hopefully we are celebrating in the locker room. After the time with the media and taking a shower and all of that stuff, I’ll get home and spend some time with my family – that is always important to do and so you have to keep things prioritized. I want to eat something good and replenish that part of things, but then I’ll jump into my cold tub at home and get as much of the inflammation out of my body as possible. I’ll either do 10-15 minutes in the cold tub up to my hips and that feels so good. It’s hard to get in, like it is for everybody, but then it just takes all the pain away.”
“Then I’ll watch the game again, either on my iPad or on the television broadcast, or both depending on the time. I like hearing what they say on television, and I like digging into the game tape deeper on the iPad. Then it’s important to get a good night of sleep.”
Monday
“It’s time to get to the office [NovaCare Complex] and get in a lift to get rid of the lactic acid that builds up in the body. We aren’t lifting to maximum or anything like that, but you want to flush your body, move around, loosen things up. The game is so physical. You have to stay on top of things at all times.”
“We will spend time on Mondays watching film again with our position coaches – the coaches’ point of view is, obviously, very important – and that’s when you get rid of the game. No matter what happened the day before, it’s over once we’re finished watching and talking through the things we did well and the mistakes we made.”
“I like to get a massage on Monday. We have a massage room at NovaCare. Deep tissue. Really want to get all the pain out. That helps do the trick.”
Tuesday
“Tuesday is usually our off day, so I will try to take my daughter to school and spend some time with her. I like to have a good work/life balance. After I drop her off, I might play some light golf – very light, just a little bit. It just lets me get out there and focus on something else for a while, clear my mind. It depends on how many touches I had in the game and how my body feels, but it gives me a chance to get away. I’m not aggressive. Easy swings.”
Wednesday
“One of the things I like to do is write down everything I’m doing from the time I wake up every day just to make sure I’m keeping on schedule, keeping things consistent with my sleep, my diet, my family time, what I’m doing at practice, how I’m conditioning. That’s the way I’ve been in the league. Find the right routine and stick to it.”
“We get back on the practice field on Wednesday, and it is a long day of meetings and practice and preparing for the next opponent. That’s when you really just start hunkering down and focusing in on what is ahead of you. The whole team has its schedule, and we follow it as the coaches give us the gameplan. We talk about that in meetings and then work on our fundamentals and our situational football on the field.”
“When I get back home – I’m usually at NovaCare from about 8 am to 6:30 pm, something like that – I spend time with my wife and kids, and then I do more recovery. I like the sauna, then get in the cold tub and then wear recovery boots (high-level compression sleeves that run from the feet to the hips) to try to continue to flush out my body.”
Thursday
“Big work day. I work on my speed, mechanics and fundamentals in practice. That is an important day to sharpen up my game, tighten up some areas that I’m not where I want to be.”
“I’m trying to do another massage on Thursday – actually, I try almost every single day with a massage, some are deep and some are light – because that’s just something my body responds to.”
“Same thing at night for me – sauna, cold tub continuing to flush my body – and then I might just relax and watch football that night. Nothing crazy. Really don’t do much during the season at night because we just can’t. It is all about recovery and eating right and staying hydrated – I drink so many fluids all day, every day – and preparing for the next game.”
Friday
“We call it ‘Focus Friday,’ and for me it’s really important. It is the end of the week and if you aren’t ready by now, you aren’t doing your job. We lift weights on Mondays and Wednesdays, and we work on the basics every day we are on the field, so what changes is that on Friday our practice is red zone – it is the same with every team – situations and things like that. I like to be super-detailed on Friday. I am in my zone. Practice is a little bit shorter, the day is a little bit shorter, so I try to get home at about 2:30 or 3 o’clock, get an IV, do some stretching and just relax.”
“Friday night I want to spend time with my wife and family doing whatever we’re going to do and sleep really well. I try to sleep eight hours every night. That is so important for every player in this league.”
Saturday
“I haven’t talked about nutrition a lot, but that is something I’m much better at doing. I have tried to cut out juices and sugars and things like that – those are my weaknesses, I like snacking. I’m on the meal plan here, and the people in the kitchen here are just fantastic. We have a Mock Game on Saturday, which is making sure we have the right substitutions in for the game and all of the game operation is in place. If it’s a home game, we spend the night in the team hotel. If it is a road game, we fly to wherever we are playing and then are in the hotel. We have dinner at night, maybe watch some college football and have some meetings and sleep. I try to visualize the game before I go to sleep – that really relaxes my mind.”
Sunday
“Game day. Show time. I love the feeling. I am very calm, and I get ready to go. I try to do a cold/hot combination in the shower or with a cold tub. I have a pre-game routine on the field to loosen up, and I’m excited to play. This is what I’ve prepared for all week. It’s an incredible feeling to be in front of all the fans and know how much each game means. I’m not big into any kind of music – music doesn’t do it for me – but I will do some meditation and work on my breathing. I will visualize the game, flush out any doubt that I have, any self-doubt and try to get out there and play free and loose and fast.”
Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro has covered every Eagles game since 1987 and is seen and heard throughout the year on television, radio and Eagles coverage everywhere. You can hear his Eagles Live Podcast on iTunes.
