Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with his thumb injury, ESPN's Todd Archer reports. Prescott is meeting with a hand specialist on Monday, but the expectation is that he'll need a pin and plate inserted to stabilize his fractured joint. The short end of that 6-8 week timetable would have Prescott back for Week 8. But Dallas has a Week 9 bye, so Week 10 might be the most likely return date for Dak. His absence is obviously a big blow to all of the Cowboys' skill-position players. Prescott is cuttable in fantasy leagues without an IR spot.
Cowboys LT Tyron Smith tore his left hamstring in Wednesday's practice, ESPN reports. That is expected to cost Smith "multiple months," which sounds like it could even wind up a season-ender. Losing Smith will obviously hurt Dallas in both run-blocking and pass protection. The team did play without him for 6 games last year, however, and 14 games the year before. Smith actually enters this year having missed 3+ contests in 6 consecutive seasons. It's not a killer to the fantasy football draft values for Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott and others. But's definitely an added hurdle.
Update: NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Smith suffered an avulsion fracture of his left knee, which means "the hamstring tendon that sits at the back of the knee pulled off the bone." Smith will have surgery and won't play until at least December -- if at all this season.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gave his thoughts on what the backfield should look like in a Saturday interview with NFL Network. "We gotta have Tony Pollard out there. No, seriously, Zeke's gotta be our feature, and he is our feature," Jones said. "We can feature him in a lot of different ways ... So it's critical that we make Zeke -- because he's capable of being that -- really the focus of what we're doing. Now then, Pollard, there's plenty of room for Pollard. There's plenty of room for Pollard when Zeke's in there. Pollard needs to get the ball." There's only 1 ball to go around for these 2 backs, so it'll be interesting to see exactly how touches are divvied this season. But it's clear that the Cowboys currently have no plans of significantly scaling back Elliott's volume.
The Cowboys used RB Tony Pollard in a multitude of ways on the 1st day of training camp and are "committed to making Pollard a viable weapon in the offense," insider Clarence Hill writes. "Pollard opened 11-on-11 drills with the first-team offense as slot receiver. He ended practice as the primary third-down back in the 2-minute drill with [Ezekiel] Elliott on the sidelines." Hill adds that he expects Dallas to use Elliott and Pollard on the field together this season. We hear that a lot this time of year, but it certainly makes sense in this situation considering how good Pollard is and the fact that the Cowboys lost WR Amari Cooper and will likely be without WR Michael Gallup early on. We know Pollard is at least an elite fantasy handcuff, but he's also capable of providing standalone value this season.
Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott admitted that he was a little nervous about the status of his right PCL injury early in the offseason. "But by the time OTAs hit, I was back to 100 [percent]," he said. Elliott suffered that injury in Week 4 last season, so it's fair to assume he was never at full strength the rest of the way. It's certainly possible he has a more efficient season in 2022.
Cowboys VP Stephen Jones commented on the status of RB Ezekiel Elliott. “I want Zeke on my team,” Jones said. “Obviously, his contract, his money is guaranteed. He’s going to be here [in 2022], no question. We’re fortunate to have him.” Zeke carries a massive $18.2 million cap hit for the upcoming season, but moving on would cost Dallas ~$30 million. 2023 is the first year the guarantees in Elliott’s contract dry up, so it’s quite possible the team cuts him then. It’s worth remembering that the veteran played through a partially torn PCL from Week 4 on in 2021, which surely contributed to his decline in play. Still, it’s clear that the explosive Tony Pollard — who enters a contract year — deserves a bigger share of backfield touches. Zeke averaged 16.7 touches per game; Pollard was at 11.2.
Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott said after Sunday’s loss to San Francisco that he played part of the season with a PCL injury. "It was hard," Elliott said. "It's never fun being banged up. But it's my job to make sure I get my body right and be ready for this team, for the fanbase and for the coaches. It's hard, but that's my job. I won't need a procedure. I just partially tore my PCL this year. It was an injury that wasn't going to get worse, but it was just going to take time. I was just doing my job in playing through the injury. I was going out there and doing what I needed to do for my team.” Zeke, 27 in July, will return for his 7th season in Dallas next fall.
Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said Monday that RB Tony Pollard (foot) will be "ready to roll" in Saturday's Wild Card game vs. the 49ers. It's confirmation that Pollard was held out of the regular-season finale as a precaution. Pollard averaged 7.7 carries and 3.7 targets over his final 3 games and is likely looking at a similar workload in the playoffs.
The Dallas Morning News' Michael Gehlken believes the Cowboys' starters are "unlikely to see [their] usual workload" vs. the Eagles tonight. Dallas has little to play for with the NFC East already clinched. QB Dak Prescott, RB Ezekiel Elliott, WR CeeDee Lamb, WR Amari Cooper and TE Dalton Schultz are all risky fantasy plays.
Cowboys RB Tony Pollard (foot) has been downgraded to out for Saturday night's game vs. the Eagles. It's unclear if he suffered a setback with that foot or is just getting some rest with Dallas having already won the NFC East. Even with Pollard out, don't expect the Cowboys to overwork RB Ezekiel Elliott on Saturday. Corey Clement will mix in as the #2 RB.
Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy said Monday that his team will play its starters in Saturday night's regular-season finale at Philadelphia. "We're going to line up to do what we need to do to win the game," McCarthy told reporters, according to The Athletic's Jon Machota. We wouldn't be shocked if RB Ezekiel Elliott gets the night off to rest his knee, or if the Eagles decide to rest starters and thus present a light challenge. For now, though, you should assume that any active Cowboys on your fantasy football roster will be going in Week 18.
Cowboys RB Tony Pollard (foot) is inactive for today’s game vs. Washington. That leaves only Corey Clement and JaQuan Hardy behind Ezekiel Elliott on the depth chart. Zeke should take on a bigger share of the backfield work today -- although we’re still expecting a pass-heavy game plan from Dallas.
Cowboys RB Tony Pollard (foot) won't play vs. Washington today, according to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer. That leaves Corey Clement as Dallas' #2 RB and should mean an increased role for RB Ezekiel Elliott. Despite his ongoing knee trouble, Zeke looks like a borderline RB1 based on volume alone.
"There isn’t a lot of optimism" for Cowboys RB Tony Pollard (foot) to play against Washington today, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Pollard is "fighting for it," Rapoport adds, and a final decision won't be made until pregame warmups. It's a 1 pm ET kickoff, so we'll get Pollard's status around 11:30 am ET. But he'll be a risky play if he ends up active. If not, expect RB Ezekiel Elliott to take on more volume. Dallas' only other RBs on the active roster are Corey Clement and JaQuan Hardy.
Cowboys RB Tony Pollard (foot) is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game vs. Washington. He didn’t practice all week and said Thursday that he’ll be a game-time decision with his torn plantar fascia. Pollard will obviously come with elevated risk if he ends up playing. If not, Dallas would likely be forced to give RB Ezekiel Elliott more touches. Zeke, by the way, put in a full week of practice.
Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott told reporters on Wednesday that his injured knee is expected to be back to 100% in 3-4 weeks. That doesn't help fantasy owners much -- but it would mean that Elliott is healthy for the NFL playoffs. Zeke also confirmed that he'll play through the nagging issue in the meantime. "You’re going to have to drag me off of the field," he said. A plodding Elliott is just a lower-end RB2 in fantasy lineups right now.
Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott (knee) is not listed on the final injury report for Thursday night's game vs. the Saints. He was listed as a full participant in practice all 3 days. We're expecting Elliott to cede more work than usual to RB Tony Pollard -- like he did on Thanksgiving -- making both guys RB2s. We still prefer Zeke over Pollard if you're choosing between the 2.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed that RB Ezekiel Elliott (knee) will play against the Saints on Thursday night. He even said that he expects Zeke to carry a "serious load." We're not buying that and will be projecting Elliott to cede more work than usual to RB Tony Pollard. But Elliott will be useable for fantasy owners in Week 13.
Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott (knee) was a full participant in Monday's practice. It looks like the team has decided against holding Elliott out of Thursday night's game vs. the Saints to give his troublesome knee a rest. Zeke tallied 9 carries and 8 targets to RB Tony Pollard's 10 carries and 4 targets on Thanksgiving. We could see a similar split in New Orleans.
Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy tested positive for COVID and will miss Thursday night's game vs. the Saints, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. McCarthy is 1 of 8 members of the Cowboys to test positive, Schefter adds. It's unclear how many are players. We'll keep you updated.
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