Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy acknowledged Friday that Elliott has been on a rep count in games for the past month while the running back continues to manage a knee injury that first cropped up in Week 4, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports. "It's part of how we want to play," McCarthy said, while also noting that he believes the Cowboys' 10-day break prior to the team's Week 14 game against Washington will be beneficial for Elliott, according to Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News.
Elliott's restricted snap counts have been evident just by looking at his recent game logs. Including Thursday's 27-17 win over the Saints, Elliott hasn't played more than 70 percent of the Cowboys' offensive snaps in five straight games, after topping that percentage in all but two of Dallas' first seven contests. The decline in snaps has come with a small downturn in touches (16.9 carries and 3.7 targets per game Weeks 1 through 8, 11.0 carries and 4.6 targets Weeks 9 through 13), allowing Tony Pollard to take on a more heightened role in the game plan. Though the longer turnaround for the Cowboys' Week 14 divisional matchup is welcome, McCarthy didn't promise that Elliott would be in store for an uptick in snaps and touches. In fact, given that Elliott is averaging a woeful 3.2 yards per carry over the past four games compared to Pollard's 5.7 YPC during that stretch, it wouldn't be surprising if the latter took on more volume in the weeks to come as Dallas looks to secure a playoff spot.
