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- Mar 18, 2019
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The Cowboys have high expectations, but they concede they need Ezekiel Elliott to get where they want to go.
They held their first training camp walk-through Saturday without Elliott, who remains away from camp while seeking a long-term deal. Darius Jackson took the majority of first-team reps in Elliott’s place.
“He’s a huge part of this football team,” Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said of Elliott. “He has been since day one, minute one. I’ve had a great relationship with Zeke over the years. He’s a smart football player, a great guy, the charisma that he brings for his football team.
“These things are tricky. It’s really hard. I’ve seen it over the course of my career. I thought what Jerry [Jones] said and Stephen [Jones] and how they approach it. These things happen. You go through them and hope it gets worked out soon. He’s certainly a guy we’re counting a lot on when he gets here.”
Elliott has led the league in rushing two of his first three seasons. Only a six-game suspension in 2017 kept him from getting a chance to make it three for three.
Elliott, 24, has averaged 101.2 yards per game in his career.
Training camp goes on without him, though.
“Hey, you know Zeke’s been a really good player for us for a long time, and I’m just concentrating on the guys here and getting this team better,” running backs coach Gary Brown said. “I can’t really control things I can’t control, so I’m just going to worry about the guys that are here and get them better.”
That’s the philosophy the Cowboys have taken — next-man-up — pointing out that Elliott’s absence is no different than an injury or an illness. They also believe Elliott will take his place in the backfield before the season opener.
The Cowboys have made what they believe is a “solid” offer and reportedly are waiting for Elliott’s representation to counter.
DeMarcus Lawrence, who got a new deal this offseason, said he is staying out of “another man’s business” in response to a question about Elliott. But Witten said his experience with the Cowboys is they will work it out with Elliott.
“I believe eventually he’ll get here,” Witten said. “I don’t worry about that from that standpoint. Zeke loves playing. He loves being around the guys. He’s like a little kid the way he kind of approaches and has fun. He wants to be out here. It’s part of these things that work out. It’s not easy when you go through that. Talk to me in a month I guess if that was an issue if he wasn’t there. Right now, I know he’s working through that. We’d love to see him out here, but we’ll see how it plays out.”