FRISCO, Texas — Tony Pollard had been officially named a Pro Bowl running back for about a minute when his phone rang. It was Ezekiel Elliott.
“He might’ve been the first one to hit me up right after,” Pollard said.
Since the Cowboys selected Elliott No. 4 overall in the 2016 draft, he has been their everything at running back. Elliott has been named to the Pro Bowl three times. He has won two NFL rushing titles. He has four 1,000-yard seasons. He has reached double digits in touchdowns four times.
He has the past production to say he should continue to be their everything at running back, but he doesn’t.
“I think we’re a better team when we’re going back and forth. Just the way we’re wearing down the defense, OK, I may go three, Tony may go three. He might run it three times in a row. You see how he’s wearing the defense,” Elliott said. “Honestly, man, TP is playing some really good football right now. We as a team, it only benefits our team the more touches he gets. I mean s—, you can’t say you a team guy when everything’s going good. Sometimes your role changes.”
With the Cowboys having at least a chance of winning the NFC East as they face the Tennessee Titans (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video) on Thursday, they can look to their opponent for the way they used to operate.
Derrick Henry is second in the NFL in rushing with 1,429 yards. He has 319 of the Titans’ 424 carries. Seventy-five percent of the time Tennessee runs the ball, Henry is the guy. Dontrell Hilliard has the second-most carries among running backs on the team with … 22.
The highest percentage of carries Elliott has had in a season was 69.2% in 2018 when he had 304 of the Cowboys’ 439 attempts — and that came with him sitting out the 16th and final game of the regular season. Through 15 games this season, Elliott still leads the Cowboys in…
