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Jerry Says Cowboys Must Be Prepared To Play Without Zeke

Jerry Says Cowboys Must Be Prepared To Play Without Zeke Elliott
Matt Galatzan|
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

FRISCO - During his segment with 105.3 The Fan's Shan and R.J. on Wednesday morning, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made it clear that the Cowboys will be prepared to play without the help of their All-Pro running back, Ezekiel Elliott. 

"We have to be prepared to play without any given player," Jones said in the interview. "That’s just a given. That’s not unusual business.”

Jones would go on to add that "We may very well play without a player that's not coming in on his contract." 

With Elliott out, rookie fourth-round pick Tony Pollard has shined during the preseason slate, carrying the ball 15 times for 84 yards and a score, and averaging 5.6 yards per carry in his three appearances so far. 

While that is obviously not a huge sample size, the Cowboys clearly feel comfortable with the idea of Pollard having responsibilities as the lead back heading into the season opener, given his performance throughout the summer.  

Elliott, whose contract negotiations are still ongoing with just a week remaining before the start of the regular season, was first reported by our Mike Fisher to have recently received a Gurley-sized offer.

Even with that report, however, Jones was clear that there is nothing new to report in terms of the sides being closer to an agreement. 

"I don't have anything to report there," Jones said. "No, we don't have anything to report on our contract negotiations." 

Despite that, Jones clearly knows the value Elliott brings to the team, and while he would obviously love to have his star back suiting up in the season opener on September 8th against the New York Giants, they are not going to rush the outcome of the negotiations either. 

"We've got a marathon here," said Jones. "We want Zeke when we get to the playoffs. We want Zeke when we're in the dog days of the season."

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writers’ Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014, covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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