Cowboys hope return of Elliott can give them a lift
The Dallas Cowboys are desperate for an NFL wild card, reports Mark Maske.
FOR the second straight weekend, a major NFL star returns to the field after an extended absence, hoping to help his team make an unlikely push into the NFC playoffs.
Last Sunday, it was Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers coming back from a broken collarbone. This Sunday, it’s Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott returning from his sixgame suspension by the NFL.
The Cowboys can only hope they fare far better with Elliott than the Packers did with Rodgers, who threw three interceptions in Green Bay’s loss at Carolina.
That defeat and the Falcons’ triumph Monday night eliminated the Packers from playoff contention, and Green Bay cut short Rodgers’s return by shutting him down and placing him on the season-ending injured reserve list Tuesday.
Elliott and the Cowboys play Sunday at home against the Seahawks in a matchup of two teams with once-lofty ambitions now trying desperately to sneak into the postseason as a wild card. The Seahawks expect to see Elliott at something resembling his best, even with his extended layoff.
‘‘He’ll be really fired up to play football, yeah,’’ Seattle Coach Pete Carroll said at a midweek news conference. ‘‘He’s got to be about as hungry as you can get.’’
The issue, of course, is whether Elliott will be ready to handle a workload of 20 to 25 carries in his first game since November 5.
‘‘We’ll see,’’ Carroll said. ‘‘I would think he’ll handle it. It sounds like he did everything you could to work out and get in shape and all that. We’ll find out.’’
Elliott was said to be slim and in shape when he reported back to the Cowboys this week after training during his suspension in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Elliott cut short a session with reporters this week after declining to discuss what he’d done during his suspension. But the Cowboys are eager to see just how productive he can be.
‘‘We’ll just watch in practice and see if he seems like his normal self and is handling the work physically from a conditioning standpoint, mentally,’’ Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett said at a midweek news conference. ‘‘But, again, we’ll just take it day by day.’’
The Cowboys’ playoff chances are slim. They must beat the Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles in their remaining two games and hope that the Detroit Lions lose once and the Panthers, Falcons or New Orleans Saints lose twice. Alternatively, the Cowboys can get in by winning twice and having both the Panthers and Saints lose twice.
Elliott was playing well before his suspension took effect, averaging 126.5 rushing yards per game in his final four outings. The Cowboys went 3-3 without him, losing the first three games but winning the final three as Alfred Morris and Rod Smith filled in at running back.
‘‘He’s capable of doing anything we’d ask him to do at the running back position,’’ Garrett said. ‘‘He’s obviously a very good runner. He’s a good receiver. He’s a good protector. He can play in any situation. So we’ll work through this week and see what he’s able to do in this game plan. We’ll certainly keep Alfred ready and we’ll certainly keep Rod ready. . . . All hands on deck. We’ll proceed normally this week and figure out how we’re playing everybody come [this] weekend.’’ The Washington Post Getty Images