Cowboys Are 'Juiced,' Says Zeke - About McCarthy & Super Bowl Goals
FRISCO - Ezekiel Elliott and Mike McCarthy essentially share the same goals in their first NFL season together: They want things to mesh ... and they want the meshing to lead to a Super Bowl.
It's the middle of August, the fourth day of training camp at The Star, and Monday was the first day in pads. But so far, so good.
"Guys are juiced,'' said Zeke after the Monday morning session. "We're flying around. I think we all love coach McCarthy.''
And to this point, what's not to love? McCarthy came here, after a season off, with Green Bay-tied Super Bowl credentials. And Elliott came here, a couple of NFL rushing titles ago, with Super Bowl aspirations.
“My individual goals,'' Elliott said, coyly answering the question, "are just to win a Super Bowl. We have a great team. It’s our time.''
McCarthy has vowed to find a way to feature all of his offensive stars. That can mean lots of 11-Personnel, that can mean Elliott and Tony Pollard playing together, and that can mean "Feed Zeke,'' which has always been a good idea around here.
“First off, with Zeke, he’s going to get the football,” said McCarthy. “Let’s make no mistake about that.''
That's a fine answer to what smart football watchers know is a silly question. The Cowboys, following a painful holdout, last September signed Elliott to the richest running back contract in NFL history. He may be used differently under McCarthy and to prolong his career he may even be used less.
But when Zeke plays an entire season (as he's done three times in four years (derailed just one year by a suspension), he's a 1,300-yards rusher who averages 98 yards per game. Last year he also caught 54 passes for 420 receiving yards and two touchdowns, exhibiting a skill set of the sort that McCarthy (then a coordinator) has featured way back to 2001 with Ricky Williams in New Orleans.
Some Cowboys critics are misunderstanding the coach's "Feed Zeke'' commitment, wrongly guessing that that concept takes away from an emphasis on the development of Dak Prescott. But McCarthy acknowledges that Dak - coming off his best statistical year as a passer (with 4,902 yards and 30 touchdowns to 11 interceptions) is some game-winning tinkering away from taking another step forward.
Said McCarthy: “Our offensive system will be built around making the quarterback successful. That’s the way I’ve learned it. That’s the way I believe you play offense. We have a great one here to work with.”
But wait ... Is that a conflict of sorts? How many balls are there to go around?
"The best way to make (a quarterback) successful is a great run game,'' McCarthy said. "We clearly understand what we have here.”
