A few snaps, then see you in October

ARLINGTON, TEXAS — A long and eventful pre-season comes down to this for the Dallas Cowboys: a handful of plays for Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Dez Bryant that figure to be their only snaps together until late October.

As for the Oakland Raiders in their exhibition visit to Texas on Saturday night, they’re planning a brief appearance for Pro Bowl left tackle Donald Penn just three days after he ended his training camp holdout.

Prescott and Elliott, the sensational rookie quarterback-running back combo that helped the Cowboys to a 13-3 record last season, weren’t in the backfield together the first three pre-season games this year.

Elliott, last year ’s NFL rushing leader, should make his exhibition debut against the Raiders. It’s the same plan from a year ago when he appeared in just one pre-season game. But this year, Elliott is facing a six-game suspension after the NFL concluded he used physical force against his girlfriend at the time last summer in Ohio.

If Elliott’s appeal of the ruling is denied, his first regular-season game won’t be until Oct. 29 against Washington.

“Typically, the running backs in this league don’t play that much in the pre-season,” coach Jason Gar- rett said. “Those guys just seem to have a feel, they can get a feel for what they need to do in practice if the practice is competitive and you’re practising in the right environment, which we believe we do.”

Penn skipped the first 26 days of camp with the Raiders before reporting Wednesday and getting in two practices. Because teams will sit most of their starters in next week’s pre-season finales, this is probably the Raiders’ only chance to get Penn work against first-teamers before the regular season.

Both teams have intriguing issues at backup quarterback once Prescott and Derek Carr are finished.

Undrafted Dallas rookie Cooper Rush has been more efficient in preseason than Kellen Moore, a sixthyear veteran who had the backup job at the start of camp. Rush, of Central Michigan, got second-team work in practice this week.

EJ Manuel and Connor Cook have battled for Oakland’s No. 2 job throughout the pre-season. Manuel was solid while Cook struggled in the pre-season opener; the reverse was true last week. “The cool thing is both those guys have approached it with such a great attitude,” offensive co-ordinator Todd Downing said. “They’ve both taken strides, and at times one guy has taken a bigger stride than the other.”