Ezekiel Elliott is finally back with the Dallas Cowboys, and head coach Jason Garrett is understandably excited to have him back in the fold.
Elliott's camp went to great lengths to show how he was staying ready for the season, training heavily down in Mexico while he waited for a deal to get done.
Anytime a player holds out for this long, there is naturally concern about what their stamina is going to be when they come back and whether they'll be able to participate in a game right away.
Garrett didn't sound too worried about all that.
“He's in very good shape,” Garrett said, via Todd Archer of ESPN.com. “He looks good, but he hasn't practiced with pro football players, so we'll just see how he fits back in. But he's a quick study. He's a smart guy, got excellent football IQ. So we'll just see where he is and adjust accordingly as we go.”
As for what type of workload Elliott is going to see in his first game back, that's still a bit unclear.
“You just try your best to gauge them and try to put the player, the team in the best position,” Garrett said. “Obviously he was with us all throughout the offseason. He missed training camp. Really hasn't played in preseason games in the past, so there's a lot of different factors to weigh.”
Recent reporting has indicated Elliott will play in Week 1 against the Giants, but might not see his usual full complement of snaps. Assuming that's the case, rookie Tony Pollard should see some significant run for Dallas.
“The biggest thing you do, is you get him back in here and you get him back to work. You get feedback from him as to how he's doing. You watch him and you make your best judgment in how you want to use him going forward,” Garrett said.
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