Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
ATLANTA — Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will miss Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons for disciplinary reasons, officials told ESPN on Saturday.
Elliott was originally scheduled to be active in this match. He did not accompany the team on Saturday’s charter flight. Elliott’s agent, Rocky Arsenault, could not be reached for comment.
It wasn’t the return Elliott had hoped for since signing a one-year deal with the Cowboys in April. He had 48 carries for 149 yards and two touchdowns, and caught seven passes for 40 yards in seven games.
He signed a one-year contract with the Cowboys in April with a maximum value of $3 million and a guaranteed $2.15 million, including a signing bonus of $600,000.
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Last week against the San Francisco 49ers, he scored his 70th rushing touchdown for the Cowboys, moving him two behind Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett, second only to Emmitt Smith in team history.
This will be the first time in his career that Elliott will be out of the lineup in a game where the Cowboys’ playoff standings are not decided. He earned a spot in the final games of the regular season in 2016 and 2018 and was rested.
Elliott’s appearance on the game-day roster was in doubt for last week’s game against San Francisco, but officials said Elliott could have been active even if top rusher Rico Doodle was sick before kickoff. It is said to be free. He has only missed three games due to injury (two games in 2022 with a knee injury and one game in 2020 with a calf strain). In 2017, he was suspended for six games.
Doodle, who has 246 rushing yards, has been healthy this week, and the Cowboys promoted Dalvin Cook from the practice squad for the second straight week on Saturday.
Elliott, who was with the New England Patriots in 2023, had career lows in carries (184) and yards (642), but caught 51 passes for 313 yards and five touchdowns. .
Elliott started the season opener against the Cleveland Browns and led the Cowboys with 10 carries for 40 yards and one touchdown. He started last week against the Niners and had 10 carries for 34 yards, including a season total of 11 yards in the first half. In the other five games, he had no more than eight carries or 19 yards in a game.
The Cowboys entered the season with an assistant commissioner, but the results have not been fruitful. They entered Sunday’s game averaging 74.1 yards per game, which was last in the NFL. They are also on a streak of 21 consecutive games without a 100-yard rusher, the longest streak in team history.
Cook had four 1,000-yard seasons (2019-22) with the Minnesota Vikings, earning him a Pro Bowl berth each time. Last year, he signed with the New York Jets, but gained just 214 yards on 67 carries in 15 games. He appeared in one game for the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs and had eight carries for 23 yards. Against the Niners, he gained 12 yards on six carries.
