Jerry Jones Claims Cowboys Star is Being Dramatic About Not Getting the Ball

Per Dallas Cowboys beat writer Clarence Hill Jr., running back Ezekiel Elliott is " dumbfounded" by his lack of use of the offense through the first five games of the season.

Elliott had discussions with the coaching staff about his lack of touches, especially inside of the red zone.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones begs to differ with the veteran's perspective.

Elliot has yet to hit the century mark in rushing for the season. He has 98 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries entering Week 6.

Fifth-year running back Rico Dowdle has been the Cowboys' leader in the backfield. He has 54 rushes for 221 yards but no touchdowns. The only other rushing touchdown for Dallas this season belongs to quarterback Dak Prescott.

During his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan, Jones said the Cowboys aren't featuring Elliott heavily in the early portion of the season because they want to save him for the later stretch of games because of the All-Pro's injury history .

Jones claimed Hill's report on Elliott being "dumbfounded" was an exaggeration, but defended the coaching staff's reasoning to use Dowdle in such a way that Elliott had a meeting with the coaching staff. Jones referred to Elliott's complaint as "madness."

"That's an exaggeration," Jones said via a transcript from Audacity. "Dumfounded is a mischaracterization and a bad description of how he feels about things. ... We're saving him, and we should be. Rico (Dowdle) is an outstanding running back.

"(Elliott's) always had the challenge because of his size of doing his blocking and protecting the quarterback. But his big problem has been what? He's had injuries over the course of his career. So it would be madness to depend on [that]. ... Zeke is there and we want to protect him over this particular period of time."

The Cowboys are set to play the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Per Pro Football Focus, the Lions' run defense is ranked seventh entering Week 6.

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