Getty The Cowboys may have to be cautious with Ezekiel Elliott's workload.
The Dallas Cowboys will likely utilize a new strategy due to Ezekiel Elliott’s injury moving forward.
As Elliott continues to deal with a nagging knee injury, the Cowboys’ plan is to lessen his workload moving forward, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Not only that, but Elliott’s injury will linger all season long — and it doesn’t look like he’ll sit.
“This knee injury, bone bruise in his knee, is something that’s going to linger all season. Unless they step in and basically take Zeke off the field, it seems like it’s something that he’s going to play with.
Just listening to Jerry Jones after the game. They’re going to alter the game plan a little bit because of Zeke’s injury. May have to get as, Jones mentioned, Tony Pollard 25 or so touches. May have to flip the roles a little bit just because Zeke is not himself.
We’ll see if he can get out to a point where he is healthy enough where we don’t notice his knee. But until they have a long enough break, we’re simply not there yet.”
Elliott’s Touches Decline in Loss to Raiders
During the 33-30 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Thanksgiving day, Elliott received nine carries to Pollard’s 10 carries. As far as total touches are concerned, Pollard had 14 touches to Elliott’s 15 touches.
If the Pollard statement comes to fruition where he does receive 25 or so touches per game, that would limit Elliott to being a situational player. There simply aren’t enough touches to go around if Pollard is receiving that much work.
Elliott has dealt with a lingering knee injury all season long. He re-tweaked the knee injury during the Cowboys’ Week 11 matchup versus the Kansas City Chiefs.
Leading into the game against the Raiders, Elliott downplayed the severity of his knee injury.
“I mean, it’s sore, but it’s been sore,” Elliott said, via the team’s official website. “I would say it doesn’t feel any different than it did this time last week.”
“It’s football. You get hurt,” Elliott continued. “You’re not going to be 100 percent. I’m tough. I can play through it.”
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Cowboys Upset Over Penalties in Loss
The Cowboys lost for the third time in their past four games — all against AFC West opponents — to drop to a record of 7-4.
While the loss was excruciating enough, the matter of penalties — especially the 33-yard pass interference penalty called against cornerback Anthony Brown — became a hot topic following the game.
Dallas was penalized a total of 14 times for 166 yards during the game.
Multiple Cowboys had an issue with the officiating following the game.
“The numbers are absurd,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said, via Jori Epstein of USA Today. “I don’t really know what the hell you want me to say. Write whatever you want, I’m all for it.”
“(The Raiders) took advantage of the situation. I call it ‘Throw-Up Ball.’ Right way to play a game like this: just throw it out there and get a penalty,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “This will probably be the most-watched game other than the Super Bowl, and I hated that it got down to just throwing the ball up and getting the penalties to get your big plays.”
The Cowboys certainly have a reason to gripe about the officiating. However, it’s not going to change things — they lost.
Dallas will look to right the ship when they take on the New Orleans Saints next Thursday night in Week 13.