Ezekiel Elliott Refused to Throw Coaching Staff Under the Bus After Cowboys Loss to Eagles
By Jerry Trotta
A healthy portion of the Dallas Cowboys roster must know how inept their coaching staff is, right? Well, if that's actually the case, stars like Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott just refuse to come out and say publicly what so many fans and critics are thinking.
Elliott, who received just 13 carries in Sunday's loss to the division rival Philadelphia Eagles, still insisted on pushing a positive outlook when asked if Dallas' coaching staff should undergo an overhaul this offseason.
Ezekiel Elliott when asked if there needs to be big picture changes in Dallas: "We got to focus on finishing this season. We still got football left. We still can make the playoffs. I think that’s inappropriate for me to talk about."
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 23, 2019
Because of the unwritten rule that prohibits throwing teammates or coaches under the bus, we'll presumably never know Zeke's honest opinion.
Elliott has every right to be furious with Dallas' coaching staff -- head coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore in particular -- after being called to run the ball just 13 times. That marked his second-lowest carries total in a game this season.
However, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for the Pro Bowl tailback during his Q&A. Zeke didn't hesitate to call out his teammates and thoroughly shoot down the notion that the Cowboys are a better team than the Eagles.
Ezekiel Elliott asked about better team losing: “I mean s**t. How can you say we are a better team if we didn't go out there and beat them? When it was time to do it in the crunch time, we needed one win to solidify the division and we couldn't do it so I wouldn't say that.”
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) December 23, 2019
He's not wrong, and perhaps that's more of an indictment on Dallas' staff than anything he could have said while answering the previous question. But given the struggles that have taken hold in 2019, someone still needs to go out and say the uncomfortable part out loud.