Ezekiel Elliott has had a major issue this season, fumbling the football. So far in 2020, Elliott has lost four fumbles after only losing five in his first four seasons.
The former two-time rushing champion has gone back into the lab so to speak to study every fumble he’s had throughout his career. Now, it’s just about applying what he’s learned and taking it to the field.
“I just think I need to not put myself in vulnerable situations,” Elliott said, via ESPN’s Todd Archer. I’ve just got to lock in and focus. I don’t think there’s a specific answer. All I can do is give myself, watch as much film as I can, gather as much information as I can, and try to use that to help me. But I don’t think there’s an exact answer on how to fix these fumble problems I’ve had this year.”
Elliott’s four lost fumbles on 101 carries this season is more than all nine of the NFL’s top 10 rushers have lost in 1,104 carries (three). The most frustrating part is that the Cowboys opponents have scored 28 points off of these fumbles. Elliott, however, is looking to move forward and play at that level he’s come accustomed to.
“We just have to move forward, period,” Elliott said. “We can’t really sit here and worry about things we can’t change. I’m not going to be able to change the amount of times I put the ball on the ground this year. That’s not going to change at all. What I focus on, what I can control is my play from here on out, so I’ve got to put that behind me, and I can’t sit back and think about that and let that affect my play going forward. I got to go out there and play a lot better football than I’ve played.”
After the Dallas Cowboys 38-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday, Elliott excepted responsibility for his mishaps and apologized to his teammates.
“I just wanted to let them know how terrible I felt, just from my performance,” Elliott said. “And that I’m supposed to be a guy that this team and this offense can rely on and lean on when things get rough, and I just wasn’t that last Monday night. I told them that I was sorry, and I promise I’m going to turn things around for this team.”
The Cowboys hit the road this Sunday for an NFC East showdown with the Washington Football Team who are currently on a five-game losing streak, making this an ideal game to turn things around.
“We’re going to get this thing right. We are trying to figure out what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to come together. We are going to surround each other. We are going to support each other. We’ve got a big game this week, a division game on the road. We’ve got to go figure out how to get a win.”
Elliott hasn’t hidden from his mistakes and is saying all the right things, after all, you want players to hold themselves accountable. Now, it has to translate to better play on the field, and if anyone can bounce back and perform at all high level it’s Elliott.
