Saquon Barkley is against the NFL’s push for an 18-game regular season, and he’s saying so while dealing with an injury of his own. The Philadelphia Eagles running back missed practice again Thursday with a back issue, after returning from a hamstring injury, as Philadelphia prepare for Sunday Night Football in Washington.

“I can’t speak on how players feel,” Barkley told Dan Roberts of Front Office Sports. “How do I feel about it? I’m not a fan of it. I actually don’t agree with it, to be completely honest. If it’s up to me and up to my vote on that particular thing that they want to change, I don’t think so. I’m all about players’ health, and I don’t see how another game is advantageous to our health, for now and for the future.”

The NFL moving to an 18-game season is still years away, but the idea got plenty of attention at the league’s annual meeting back in March. Two things are keeping it alive.

The players union has a new leader in JC Tretter, and the league keeps adding international games to its schedule. Together, they have some people thinking about a push for one extra regular-season game, paired with just two preseason games.

The league and owners are expected to bring an 18-game proposal to the NFLPA, but those talks are on hold for now because Tretter, who was elected in March, is still visiting teams to hear directly from players. So talks on this and other contract issues will have to wait until he finishes.

Owners, meanwhile, haven’t been shy about where they stand. Patriots owner Robert Kraft is among those who have openly wanted more games, and plenty of people see an extra week as a handy way to grow the league’s global plans.

Dak Prescott hinted at what might get players to listen. He told FOS‘s Baker Machado that better player compensation and an extra bye week could carry real weight in the discussion.

The union has been openly resistant to the idea, and since it is still settling in under new leadership, formal bargaining hasn’t started. Commissioner Roger Goodell has taken a more careful public tone, saying earlier this year that an 18-game season was not “a given.”

There is also a contract problem to solve. The current CBA runs through the 2030 season, and it blocks the league and owners from stretching the schedule past 17 games per team on their own. An 18th game addition would require an additional agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association.

Still, injuries are the most obvious reason players push back, and Saquon Barkley made his feelings clear:

“It’s a hell of a sport. It puts a lot of wear and tear on your body. I know for the position that I play, you get to see the ugly side of football when you go through the injuries, and you see your friends and people, your loved ones, go through it.

“I don’t see, outside of making the NFL more money, which if we work it out in the CBA I guess can in turn make us more money depending on how you negotiate it, me personally, if you talk about the best way I can answer it for player safety, I don’t see how adding another game is good for player safety. And that’s just kind of my stance on it.”

His own health makes the point harder to ignore. He missed two games earlier this season with a hamstring injury and returned in Week 7, a 38-21 loss to the Cowboys. He then sat out practice on Wednesday and Thursday due to a back issue, joined on the sidelines by WR DeVonta Smith, who is also dealing with a hamstring issue.

An 18-game season is still far off, but injuries like Barkley’s will keep players asking whether it’s worth it.