FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott believes he is on track to play Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles despite a calf injury that has bothered him the past three weeks and kept him off the field last week.
After working through some resistance training at the start of practice, Elliott went through some team drills Wednesday.
"I feel better today than I have in the last three weeks on a Wednesday," Elliott said.
Elliott missed the first game of his career due to injury last week against the San Francisco 49ers. While the injury was more of a bruise, Elliott said he felt a tug the day before the Niners game as he worked out, and the decision was made to hold him out after the leg did not loosen up during pregame warm-ups.
"I'm feeling way better than I did last week. Obviously with the rest this weekend it's going to be feeling better," he said. "I actually got out here at practice, ran around some in team drills. It's definitely making the right steps to be ready for Sunday ... Definitely feels better with the rest and looking good for this weekend."
Tony Pollard replaced Elliott against San Francisco and finished with 69 yards rushing with touchdown runs of 1 and 40 yards. He also led the Cowboys with six catches for 63 yards as the Cowboys won 41-33.
"It was definitely hard, and it was tough, that being my first game I missed for injury, but the boys got it done," Elliott said. "They made it a lot easier."
Elliott's season, like the Cowboys', has not gone as planned. He has 832 yards, is averaging 3.9 yards per carry and has lost five fumbles, a career high. He is on pace to miss rushing for 1,000 yards in a season for the first time when he has played a full year. He ran for 983 yards in 2017, when he missed six games because of a suspension.
With Pollard performing well -- and when considering Elliott's lucrative contract -- there are some outside the organization who believe the Cowboys would be better if Pollard had a larger role. Elliott acknowledged Pollard is a great back, but he does not pay attention to what is said by those outside the organization.
"At the end of the day, those aren't the people signing my checks," Elliott said. "Those aren't the cats that are making the final decisions, so I mean I think there's a reason they're not the ones making those decisions. I don't think it really matters. It doesn't hold much with me what people outside this building are saying. All that matters to us is the people in this building."