“Ezekiel Elliott will sign his contract and see the bulk of the carries against the New York Giants.” That statement has been fairly common as the regular season approaches and Zeke’s holdout continues. When he ultimately signs the mega-deal with the team, as expected, how much time will be necessary to prepare for the upcoming game? The initial reaction is to say that Elliott will be ready to roll, but there are outside factors to consider, such as the new offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore. The former backup quarterback learned under previous OC Scott Linehan, but the purpose of his promotion was to mix up the offense.
If Elliott truly gets his deal done on Tuesday or early Wednesday, as expected, will he be able to hit the ground running and lead the way against the New York Giants after missing so much time? That’s exactly what Bryan Broaddus and Rob Phillips of the Cowboys media team tried to predict. Understandably, their reactions were mixed.
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“I think that Elliott would need at least a week, maybe two, to be ready to play. I would be real careful throwing him out there this week if he did sign,” Bryan said in a mailbag for the team website.
Phillips, on the other hand, slightly disagreed. He explained that Zeke has previously stepped into his starting role after missing practice time, but there was a foundation built during training camping. This year is slightly different considering that Elliott missed the entire 2019 training camp and preseason. Still, Phillips doesn’t believe that it will take much time for the star running back to adjust to the offense upon his return.
While these two writers for the Cowboys couldn’t come to an agreement about the possible outcome, there is one other factor that should be mentioned.
According to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News, the team worked a bit on the game plan for week one during Monday’s practice, but the full install won’t take place until Wednesday. If Elliott is to participate in the opening week of the season, showing up for this session is critical.
As of Tuesday morning, the deal has not been agreed upon, but there is still considerable time left for the Cowboys and Elliott to reach an agreement. That being said, taking care of business earlier would be preferable in order for Zeke to learn the full game plan for week one and get in some much-needed practice reps.
