Ezekiel Elliott said he wants to play Sunday against Philadelphia - and he doesn’t care whether it’s a so-called meaningless game with no playoff implications at stake.
Elliott played for the first time in seven games against Seattle, gaining 97 yards on 24 carries, after serving a six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
He’s had enough time off.
"I only played nine games this season, I'm itching to play football," Elliott said Wednesday in front of his locker. "I don't care if we're playing for nothing, I'm playing for something. I'm playing for myself, we're playing for each other, and so I'm excited to go out and play Sunday.
“I'm not going to have any problem waking up Sunday morning getting ready to play. You don't have worry about that from me, or from anyone on this team."
Elliott has 880 yards on 215 carries, a 4.1 average, and he’d like to finish the season with more than 1,000 yards.
"The main goal is to go win a football game," Elliott said. "If it [1,000 yards] happens, it happens. It's not like you can go out there and force that, but it definitely would be nice."
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The reality, however, is he won’t play much, if at all.
He didn’t play last year in the final regular-season game and there’s no good reason to think the Cowboys will put Elliott in harm’s way this season no matter how much he might want to play.
Rod Smith, who appears to have surpassed Alfred Morris and become the backup, will probably handle the bulk of the carries Sunday against Philadelphia. Smith has 232 yards on 55 carries and four touchdowns, while also catching 19 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown.
