Dallas Cowboys are mismanaging Ezekiel Elliott. How it hurts him and the team | Opinion

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is a proud warrior.

He is as tough as any player on the team.

And most importantly, he is a team player.

Those are the reasons an injured Elliott has continued to play on a banged-up right knee that has limited his play and effectiveness for the last month.

Elliott wants to be out there with his teammates. And the Cowboys want him on the field despite the injury because of his presence, toughness on short yardage and his ability to protect in the passing game.

Making matters worse is the team’s public refusal to acknowledge that Elliott is clearly not himself.

He can’t jump cut, he barely can cut and runs with no juice.

This has been most evident the last month when had the worst four consecutive rushing days of his career with 14 rushes for 41 yards in a 43-3 victory against the Atlanta Falcons, 9 for 32 in a 19-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, 9 for 25 in a 36-33 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and 13 for 45 in Thursday’s 27-17 victory against the New Orleans Saints.

It’s the worst four-game stretch of his six-year that includes two rushing titles.

Elliott’s limitations were on full display on a 10-yard run against the Saints when he turned the corner and hobbled out of bounds, untouched.

Yet, owner Jerry Jones continues to be disingenuous about what Elliott is dealing with.

“I didn’t see what you’re referring to,” Jones said. “I saw a stout run defense by New Orleans unquestionably. No, I’m really — I’m sound with where I am. His trainers, the people that are closest to his health, his medical situation, they think he’s really good to go.”

Per a source, Elliott is good to go in terms of not being able to not injure himself any worse, which is why the doctors and medical people are allowing him to play.

Elliott is nowhere close to 100 percent and likely won’t get there for the rest of the season.

Again, he refuses to make excuses.

He hopes the 10-day break between the Saints game and the Washington game on Dec. 12 will help him regain some juice.

“It’ll be good to get a break,” Elliott said.

Jones echoed similar comments about the 10-day break being good for Elliott.

But Jones remained tone deaf about his limitations and showed no interest in Elliott possibly sitting out a game to heal.

“You know, a lot of times, if you can get through games, if you can push on, then that’s better for you than sitting it out,” Jones said. “If you have an issue, it improves if you’re able to get out and not injure it more. He certainly didn’t injure anything more [against the Saints]. So, I really look forward to a powerful and dynamic Zeke as we move on into this last part of the season.”

No one believes that final statement.

It’s the main reason the Cowboys have been managing his touches, giving backup Tony Pollard a bigger piece of the running load.

But what’s also becoming clearer is that the Cowboys’ management of Elliott is becoming a detriment to his reputation and the team.

No one is giving Elliott credit for his toughness, selflessness and determination for playing through injury, especially when the Cowboys say he is fine.

What the outside world sees is a back who is seemingly past his prime, just three years after signing a six-year, $90 million contract extension in 2019, even though he was among the league’s leading rushers in 2021 before initially suffering the injury in October against the Carolina Panthers.

Elliott had 85 carries for 452 yards and five touchdowns through the first five games of the season.

He has 88 carries for 313 yards and three touchdowns over the last seven.

More importantly, the team’s insistence to continue to run Elliott takes some carries away from Pollard, who is faster and clearly the more effective back at this point.

Pollard proved the only spark on offense in the second half against the Saints with a 58-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

He had tough sledding on his other runs, rushing 6 times for 13 yards. But he is a viable threat to produce a big play when the blocking is there and Elliott clearly isn’t at this point, as evidenced by the aforementioned 10-yard run out of bounds untouched against the Saints.

There is no good reason Pollard should have received just seven carries in the game, compared with 13 for Elliott.

It’s not about managing Elliott. Pollard should be getting more touches, period.

Elliott’s confidence is waning along with his production. The players see it. Opponents see it. The fans see it.

By not admitting as much, the Cowboys are simply doing a disservice to Elliott and the team.