Cowboys Camp: 2 RBs Out, 1 with COVID

His role behind Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard might be a little bigger this year ... but first he's got to get healthy.

Ezekiel Elliott has a plan that will keep him fresh for an NFL regular season that he hopes will propel his Dallas Cowboys to the playoffs ... and propel him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

That plan is about sitting out preseason games (as is also the plan with QB Dak Prescott). But while rest for Elliott in general seems like a fine idea, he might not get exactly that in the coming days as the Cowboys will now deal with what is hoped is a brief absence of running back Rico Dowdle.

Dowdle, the third-string back behind Elliott and Tony Pollard, is slimmed down and experiencing a good camp in Oxnard. The team has talked openly about valuing all three runners ... a case made especially so if Zeke needs some rest and if Pollard needs to go play some wide receiver.

But some of those plans will be stalled now as Dowdle will miss the remainder of the week, at least.

Also absent is another running back, veteran Ryan Nall, who is a special-teams ace slated to help out at fullback. The Dallas News reports that he's got a shoulder problem that could keep him out for two to four weeks.

Dowdle ended up missing the 2021 season due to a hip fracture, and in May he dealt with a knee scope that kept him out of participation in OTAs.

Dowdle joined the Cowboys as a UDFA out of South Carolina in 2020, and played a role on special teams in his rookie season. His role behind Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard might be a little bigger this year ... but first he's got to get healthy.

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