Jerry Jones explains why Ezekiel Elliott isn't getting many reps this season

Ezekiel Elliott registered 12 combined touches and 49 yards from scrimmage in the Dallas Cowboys' Week 1 victory over Cleveland. Since then, he has not reached double-digit touches once. In fact, Elliott's workload appears to be trending in the wrong (or right?) direction, as he has only netted six touches in each of the last two weeks.

Dallas has instead turned over RB1 duties to Rico Dowdle in an attempt to perk up the Cowboys' slumbering run game. It has been mildly successful, as Dowdle just has more pep to his step than Elliott these days, but Dallas really misses Tony Pollard. After building their identity around a prolific run game for years, the Cowboys have actively struggled on the ground in 2024. Dallas has scrapped its way to a 3-2 record, but the offense is tepid relative to what we're accustomed to from Mike McCarthy's squad.

When asked about his diminished role this week, Elliott did not sound too thrilled. According to Cowboys insider Clarence Hill Jr., Elliott is "dumbfounded" by his lack of usage, especially in the red zone, where his physicality has long been a calling card. The 29-year-old reportedly talked to coaches about his role.

Hill clarified that Elliott is "focused on keeping his head down and being a supportive teammate," but narratives tend to spool out of control with this Cowboys team. You will struggle to find an NFL organization that attracts the limelight quite like Dallas, in large part due to who owns the team.

Jerry Jones has simple but frustrating explanation for Ezekiel Elliott's diminished role

Jerry Jones spent his summer making a spectacle of Dallas' financial woes and the "struggle" to extend both CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott. That was his primary excuse for not signing a better running back and instead leaning on the nostalgia crutch with Elliott. When asked about Elliott's apparent unhappiness, however, Jones made sure to take zero responsibility for Dallas' precarious situation.

So, no, apparently Elliott is not dumbfounded. Instead, Jones thinks the media is spinning the narrative incorrectly and that Dallas is saving Elliott, not demoting him. And sure, yeah, you can get away with that excuse. But it's just a symptom of the Cowboys' larger offseason failures. Rather than signing a legitimate RB1 to take the mantle from Tony Pollard — Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, Aaron Jones, and Saquon Barkley all changed teams this summer — the Cowboys went crawling back to Elliott, who couldn't even start for the four-win Patriots a season ago.

Rather than reclaiming his role as RB1, in a twist we all saw coming, Elliott has been borderline unplayable. He's cooked — there is too much wear and tear on his knees. It's unfortunate but it's the simple truth of the matter. Elliott is too easy to wrap up at the line of scrimmage. He used to resemble a bullet shot out of the backfield at light speed, too quick to contain and too powerful to drag down. That's all a thing of the past. Elliott is slow, easy to get in front of and not explosive enough to fight through tackles.

The Cowboys should not be in a position where "saving" Elliott for the postseason is even part of the equation. He's a third-string back at best on 31 other teams. The Cowboys deluded themselves into thinking Elliott could turn back the clock and save 'em some money, but as Jerry Jones has learned the hard way this season, cutting corners gets you nowhere.