JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It may be the play of the year.
In the Jacksonville Jaguars' week nine away game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL world was buzzing after Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley performed an incredible backwards hurdle over Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones.
The play, which started at the 14-minute and 17-second mark in the second quarter, began as Barkley received a pass from the backfield, thrown towards the Eagles sideline. Not only did Barkley's remarkable leaping ability go on full display in the play, but the 7-year veteran showed amazing agility and short-area quickness, as he made two defenders miss with a juke and spin move before Jones approached him.
With all the crowd's "ooo's" and "ahh's," it appears that from Jones' perspective, the play warranted that despite the rookie being on the wrong side.
"If you watch, like after the play, like after he jumped, I looked back at him, I was like," Jones paused with a shocked expression on his face. "I was like I don't know how he did it. I mean, it ain't really too much you can do. I feel like anybody that really got something to say about it, I would love for them to tell me exactly what they would've did. I got a lot of respect for him cause I don't think nobody else in the league can actually make that play and successfully hurdle me. Like it ain't like I went low or nothing like that, like I was standing up tall and he still hurdled me."
"That was just one of those ones to where man, you gone look back 20 years from now and look at all the athletes on the field and be like, 'Bruh, there's really nothing that you could've did at that point,'" Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker told First Coast Sports. "It was just him being an athlete. We all professionals, hats off to Saquon."
The day after the iconic play many will remember for years to come, Barkley revealed at the 7:20 mark on the "Air It Out" show with AJ Greene and Justin Pugh, that he had to submit a drug test to the NFL after the game had ended.
"I got drug test[ed] right after the game," Barkley said on the show. "What really happened was, I was gonna hit a double spin... I aborted it, so when I spun, I went to spin again and I just like, it's probably gonna take away how cool the play is. I thought he was going low, so I was just like, 'I'ma be cool if I just jump up,' but you know my body kinda took over."
The Eagles went on to win the game with a score of 28-23, as Barkley recorded 159 yards rushing and one touchdown.