Ezekiel Elliott defends his lack of rushing yards in Week 1

Ezekiel Elliott continues to face scrutiny coming off an underwhelming 2020 season, and his Week 1 performance didn’t excite many either.

Elliott was limited to 11 carries for 33 yards in the Dallas Cowboys’ season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He didn’t offer much in the passing game either, catching two passes for six yards.

On Wednesday, Elliott urged critics to look at his full body of work, including his blocking contributions, despite the lack of flashy statistics.

#Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott asked about what people aren’t noticing outside of the box score, ie some of his blocks “you can have a solid game without statistics, if people don’t understand that they should probably study the game more”

— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) September 15, 2021

Elliott has a point. There is more to being a solid contributor than piling up stats. Plus, he was up against the Buccaneers, a team coming off a Super Bowl win with a highly-regarded defense. He clearly retains the faith of his quarterback and his coaches judging by the fact that he was the clear backfield preference ahead of Tony Pollard, so there’s probably not much to worry about.

On the other hand, the Cowboys didn’t sign Elliott to a $90 million contract for his blocking skills. There’s a long way to go, but Elliott will have to show improvement to keep fans from getting on him.