Jerry Jones responds to Ezekiel Elliott calling out Dallas Cowboys coaches

The Cowboys selected Elliott fourth overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. During his first seven years with Dallas, Elliott was a two-time rushing champion, a three-time Pro Bowler, and a one-time All-Pro.

He signed a one-year deal with the New England Patriots in 2023, but came back home to the Cowboys for 2024 after the team let running back Tony Pollard walk.

Elliott thought he would be getting more touches in the early part of the season, but that hasn’t been the case. He was on the field for 51% of the snaps in Week 1, but that has fallen precipitously since. In Week 2, it was down to 40 percent, then 19% and 18% in Weeks 3 and 4. However, his snap usage went up to 30% in Week 5’s win against the New York Giants.

Instead, running back Rico Dowdle has begun to emerge as the top threat in the Cowboys’ backfield committee.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones fires back at Ezekiel Elliott

During an appearance Friday on 105.3 The Fan, Jones responded to Elliott’s criticism.

“That’s an exaggeration. ‘Dumfounded’ is a mischaracterization and a bad description of how he feels about things. … We’re saving him, and we should be,” Jones said. “Rico is an outstanding running back. He’s always had the challenge because of his size of doing his blocking and protecting the quarterback. But his big problem has been what? He’s had injuries over the course of his career. So it would be madness to depend on [that]. … Zeke is there and we want to protect him over this particular period of time.”

What Jones and the Cowboys are “saving” Elliott for remains to be seen.

The Cowboys are 3.5-point home underdogs against the Detroit Lions this Sunday.