Ezekiel Elliott’s NFL debut didn’t go as planned.
The Dallas Cowboys rookie running back carried 20 times for just 51 yards against the New York Giants, with a long carry of eight yards and 12 of his 20 carries gaining two or fewer yards. He scored his first NFL touchdown, but the overall performance wasn’t up to Elliott’s standards.
“Sunday was a learning experience,” Elliott said, via ESPN. “It was definitely a learning experience. It was a tough two days after the game, watching that film over and over, wishing I could have those plays back where I didn’t do what I wish I had done. It was a learning process.”
Elliott’s best two carries came on the same drive. In the third quarter, he broke off the right side for eight yards to get the Cowboys into the red zone, and he later finished the drive by making a cut to the outside and finding the end zone from eight yards out.
The 16 yards gained on those two carries represented over 30 percent of his Week 1 total.
“I had a couple good runs, and I did a good job, sometimes, turning nothing into 1- or 2-yard gains, making sure there weren’t negative yards,” Elliott said. “I gotta be more honed. I gotta be more focused and more disciplined and focus on the little things.”
The Cowboys should have a chance to get back on track running the football in Week 2. Dallas travels to Washington to take on the Redskins, one of the worst run defenses last season and a team that gave up 143 yards and two touchdowns to veteran DeAngelo Williams in Week 1.
Former Cowboys great Emmitt Smith thinks Elliott will be just fine.
“I think the excitement of being in his first NFL actual official game maybe gotten the best of him a little bit,” Smith said. “He may have missed a couple cuts here and there. But I think in time as he get more acquainted to the offense, and get more acquainted with the speed of the game, and the style of the game, and start to really understand how defenses are trying to defend the Cowboys’ running attack, I think he’ll be fine.”
