Ezekiel Elliott returned to the Dallas Cowboys after being left out of the previous game for disciplinary reasons, but his return was overshadowed by a costly fumble in the first half of a 34-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
In the second quarter, with the Cowboys in position to take the lead, Elliott fumbled the ball into the end zone. Philadelphia’s Cooper DeJean recovered it.
“I think the guy just, you know, got his helmet on the ball,” Elliott said. “That’s unacceptable, fumble in the red zone. It’s disgusting, makes my stomach hurt.”
Elliott, a two-time rushing champion for Dallas in his first seven seasons, didn’t travel with the team last week for the 27-21 loss at Atlanta because he was late to meetings. It was the first time Elliott was a healthy scratch for a game, aside from the end-of-season games that didn’t matter.
“I’m not really trying to get too much into it,” Elliott said when asked about his disciplinary issue. “Just putting my best foot forward.”
At the time of the fumble, Dallas was trailing 7-3, but they got another chance when Micah Parsons sacked Jalen Hurts and forced a fumble that Marist Liufau recovered.
Elliott got the first carry from the 6-yard line and gained 3 yards. After an incomplete pass, starting running back Rico Dowdle lost 2 yards on a run, leaving the Cowboys to settle for a field goal.
The fumble by Elliott was part of a larger issue for the Cowboys, who turned the ball over five times in the game. They had also turned the ball over five times in their previous home game, a 47-9 loss to Detroit.
“I think the main thing is taking care of the football,” Elliott said. “I think the defense did a great job of going to get the ball. Offense, we didn’t take care of it well enough.”
