Cowboys Missing ‘Our Best Player’ vs Bucs, Says Ezekiel Elliott

FRISCO - How large is the loss of Zack Martin for the Dallas Cowboys’ NFL season-opening game at Tampa Bay on Thursday?

“Zack,” said fellow Pro Bowl vet Ezekiel Elliott, “is our best player on our offense.”

That is saying a lot - about right guard Martin, who has tested positive for COVID and will miss the game, and in a way, about a Dallas offense that is loaded with talent.

“Our best player on our offense”? Cowboys watchers could tab for that honor quarterback Dak Prescott, or four-time Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooper, or budding star pass-catcher CeeDee Lamb, or future Hall of Fame tackle Tyron Smith, or two-time NFL rushing champ Elliott himself.

CONTINUE READING: Zack Martin Now OUT for Bucs

But of course, the success of those guys in many cases come as a chain reaction from the work of Martin, an All-Decade honoree.

“Most (of Dallas’ successful) runs, they coming back behind him,” Zeke said.

At the same time, football is a next-man-up business. So assuming Martin doesn’t get medical clearance in time for Thursday’s kickoff - and despite some unsourced national media guessing, the Cowboys have essentially ruled Martin out - Connor McGovern is that “next man.” McGovern, who started eight games last year filling in for the battered O-line, is well-regarded inside The Star.

“I’ll be ready to go,” McGovern promised.

Said Elliott of Martin’s status: “It’s disappointing, but you can’t harp on it. You can’t let it be more than what it is.

“We definitely wish he was out there, but we still have a game to go play and we got to try and get the job done.”