Cowboys Country

Cowboys Reveal '50-50 Plan' for 'Healthy' Ezekiel Elliott & Tony Pollard vs. Washington

Zeke is aware of the doubters and has crafted a response.

Mike Fisher

FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott has one bad knee. ... and maybe it's getting better. But he’s got good two good eyes and two good ears.

Zeke is aware of the doubters and has crafted a response. ... and Dallas might have two healthy running backs tonight against visiting Washington and has reportedly crafted a "50-50'' plan.

“Bet against me,” Elliott wrote this week on social media. “Don’t know where they getting they odds from.”

We’re not sure what “odds” are being referred to here. But we know that Dallas remains confident in Elliott - who had 16 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown, plus three catches for 20 more yards - in the 10-4 Cowboys’ recent win over the Giants.

“Yeah, I think Zeke kind of turned the corner there,” coach Mike McCarthy in reflecting on the win. “I think really during the course of the (practice) week, he was much better than he was the past two weeks.”

That confirms what sources here inside The Star told us before the New York game - that Elliott had experienced his “sharpest” week of work in more than a month.

The Cowboys also get to feel good about their other running back, Tony Pollard, who performed well against the Giants while playing with a torn plantar fascia in his foot.

“It definitely felt good to have Tony back,” Zeke said. “The dude’s so explosive.”

Elliott, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport noted, likely has a ligament issue that is clearing up. And maybe Pollard's issue is healing as well. 

All of this has led to someone whispering to Rapoport that in tonight's game, Dallas has a plan to split the carries between the two "healthy'' runners "50-50.''

Of course, game script can change that plan. So could any aggravating of injury. But two healthy guys back there is something the Cowboys haven't had in a while.

Elliott, balking at the idea of resting before the NFL playoffs by saying, “You’ll have to drag me off the field, has stressed that his injury cannot get worse by playing through the issue. 

Now his plan - and the Cowboys' plan - seems to have them willing to “bet” that things are about to get better.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.

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