Eagles

Saquon Barkley Injured His Back Trying to Playing Through Injured Hamstring

By Matt Schultz

Published: Oct 27th, 2026 · 10:39 AM EDT

---

The banged-up Eagles lost to the Cowboys 38-21 on Monday night, and in the process added to their ever-growing list of injured players. Saquon Barkley was already nursing a hamstring injury coming into the game, and then tweaked his back trying to play through it on the first play of the game:

Saquon Barkley said it was a compensatory injury to his back. He tweaked his hamstring on his first run of the game and picked up the back injury trying to play through it. #Eagles pic.twitter.com/WJI68W8Dy1

— EJ Smith (@EJSmith94) October 27, 2026

BARKLEY: “I just gotta find a way to get healthy. It’s annoying. That’s what the season — that’s what I’m dealing with so far this season. Gotta find a way to get healthy.”

REPORTER: “Was the hamstring aggravated at all, or was it just the back —”

BARKLEY: “Thankfully, I don’t — I mean, the first play, or, I dunno, one of my first runs… I kinda got like pulled a little bit. It didn’t really do too much, but it’s how the body works. Sometimes something’s a little banged up and you overcompensate a little bit. Just gotta get into the lab and continue to work.”

What a brutal thing to deal with. Saquon missed the previous two weeks with the hamstring, and after doing everything right to get back on the field, he’s pulling up on the very first run. You can hear his frustration in his voice. You could see it on the MNF broadcast, too, as he walked back and forth from the medical tent and got stretched out on the sideline before ultimately being taken out in the third quarter. All the guy wants to do is play and his body won’t let him. Seems like that’s becoming the story of this Eagles season.

On the bright side, Saquon’s nagging back and hammy didn’t keep him quiet on the field. He ended up having a nice night, rushing 7 times for 62 yards, notching 2 receptions on 2 targets for 9 yards, and adding a touchdown. It also sounds like the injury isn’t a concern for Saquon on Monday, according to Tim McManus’ ESPN report:

Barkley said he didn’t think the back issue would keep him out going forward but deferred to the training staff.

“It’s kind of the school of thought I come from: I truly love this game, and I feel like if you’re able to go, sometimes you’ve got to push your body to the limit,” he said. “I’m trying, it’s just not responding the way I want it to respond right now. It sucks because I’m trying to be the best leader I can be, and it’s hard when you’re not able to be out there and perform for your team.”

Some good news there. Here’s hoping he trends in the right direction this week.