How this Cowboys two-time rushing champion plans to cope with sharing the load in 2024
There is no question that Ezekiel Elliott is happy to be back with the Dallas Cowboys.
And the Cowboys are happy to have the two-time NFL rushing champion back in the building after he spent the 2022 season with the New England Patriots who then released him.
“The first day he’s back, he put a big smile on everyone’s face in the locker room,” Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin said. “He’s got an infectious personality, maybe something we missed at times last year. So, it’s great to have him back.”
Quarterback Dak Prescott used an expletive when asked how it felt to have Elliott back.
“The [freaking] best,” Prescott said.
It’s one thing for Prescott to feel that way. The two have been best friends since they joined the Cowboys together in 2016 NFL Draft and took the league by storm with a 13-3 record in their first season. Elliott won his first NFL rushing title and Prescott won NFL Rookie of the Year.
But it’s another for the entire locker room and the running backs vying for snaps and jobs to feel the same way about a veteran who will climb to the top of the depth chart and garner the majority of the attention because of his past resume.
“It means a lot. It means a lot,” Elliott said. “I definitely work to be that guy. Being recognized means a lot . . . I wouldn’t say I was at all worried about how I was going to feel when I got back. I was gone for however long, but I still talked to a lot of the guys in the locker room. Still hung out with a lot of guys in the locker room. Kind of just picked up where I left out.”
As far as the last line, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy agrees.
“In a lot of ways, it feels like Zeke never left,” McCarthy said.
But Elliott is returning to a different Cowboys offense and to a different role.
McCarthy took over play calling last season and moved to more of a West Coast offense from the previous one Elliott played in.
“There’s things that are different,” McCarthy said. “He’s had some new learning schematically, language, things like that. The foundation of what he’s done. Frankly, probably his experience in New England [in 2023] to learn another system … He’s picked it up. Looks good.”
And rather than be the bell cow at running back that he was through the majority of his career in Dallas, Elliott will be part of a running back-by-committee approach in 2024.
“We’re running back by committee, but I think he’ll definitely play at the level that he’s played, I know, in my time here. I anticipate that,” McCarthy said. “I don’t see any drop off in the way he moves. He’s in good shape. … He’s come in here, and he’s picked up right where he left off.”
Interestingly enough, Elliott split carries his last two seasons with the Cowboys with Pro Bowler Tony Pollard and went to New England as the backup behind Rhamondre Stevenson.
In Dallas, he will be sharing the load with the unheralded likes of Rico Dowdle, Royce Freeman, Snoop Connor, Deuce Vaughn and Malik Davis.
The group has nine career starts between them, all by Freeman in stints with four different teams since 2018.
None of the other backs have accounted for the 642 yards rushing and 313 yards receiving Elliott totaled in the statistically-worst season of his career last year in New England.
Elliott, however, has always been an unselfish player and consummate teammate.
And he returns to the Cowboys confident in his abilities but ego-less and open to doing whatever to help the team win.
“I still view myself as a starter in this league. But also I got to take care of my body and make sure I’m fresh for when it matters. What’s that going to look like? I’m not necessarily sure, but we’ll figure it out.
I just, I love football. I’m going to do whatever it takes for me, that I need to do to help this team win. Whatever that is.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2024 at 12:00 AM.
