Philly Leader

Ahead of Super Bowl LIX, PhiladelphiaEagles.com engaged with several assistant coaches to discuss moments and players who contributed to the team's championship journey. One such discussion involved Jemal Singleton, focusing on Saquon Barkley's historic season.

When asked about areas where Barkley could improve upon joining the Eagles, Singleton said, "The thing that I do no matter who the back is go through their entire tape – every carry, every reception, every block, all those types of things, and to be honest with you, I saw a very elite player that could do a lot of things. I thought in pass protection that would be an area that he [could grow]. I think he's improved in that. There were some runs where I thought, 'Hey, if we could just get him to get his shoulders square a little bit more, he'll be able to see the full field. And I think he's done that. He's made some great cuts that as a coach maybe on tape it doesn't look like much but have been great. Those couple of things I wanted him to work on. He's such a great dude, coachable young man. He just wants to be great."

Singleton described having a front-row seat to Barkley's performance this season as rewarding: "It's fun. At the end of the day it's what you want your backs to be able to do and he has shown that he has that next-level speed to have the explosive play and make it big. It's fun sometimes I'm just sitting back and watching him go."

The coach also praised Kenneth Gainwell and Will Shipley for their contributions: "Unbelievable. We talk about our room doing everything we can taking advantage of every opportunity whether it's running the ball whether it's a kickoff return whether it's a kickoff (coverage). I think if you look at our last game the NFC Championship Game just how the game went. You had Will Shipley have a great return on the first Kenny's blocking for him on that And then Saquon had the TD run on the very next play Then you fast forward to the end of the game Will Shipley goes down on a kickoff forces a fumble Kenny Gainwell is the guy that recovers it You look at stats just of what they did on special teams and Saquon's run just as a room it's been fun A lot of fun"