Ezekiel Elliott tries to avoid ‘rat poison’

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was asked this week about blocking out critics and he described it as trying “to stay away from the rat poison.”

For the majority of the Cowboys season, this “rat poison” has surrounded running back Ezekiel Elliott. He was supposed to carry the offense when quarterback Dak Prescott went down with a season-ending ankle injury in Week 5.

It hasn’t occurred. The circumstances surrounding this reside with a lack of continuity with the offensive line and defenses not respecting the quarterback play of Andy Dalton so they focus on Elliott.

Elliott is one of the Cowboys most durable players, having missed just one game in his five-year career due to health issues. Still the noise, or rat poison, continues to get thrown at him.

As the Cowboys enter the final two weeks of their disappointing season, the noise has increased to trade, release or bench Elliott for backup Tony Pollard.

Elliott is one of the highest paid players at his position, having signed a sixyear contract extension worth $90 million with $50.05 million in guarantees. The holdout before the 2019 season allowed him the security he affords that upsets some Cowboys fans and media members.

“I don’t really pay much attention to it,” Elliott said. “I don’t really know what to say to it. Tony is a great back though.”

The man people want to replace Elliott is Pollard. As the new People’s Champ, Pollard earned his first career start finishing with 69 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. He also caught six passes for 63 yards.

If Elliott is unable to play vs. the Eagles this weekend, Pollard will start again. Whether Pollard performed well enough to push Elliott out remains uncertain. Elliott’s contract, however, make his departure difficult. If the Cowboys release Elliott this offseason they would take a $24.5 million cap hit.