Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott inactive vs 49ers, missing first game due to injury in his pro career
For the very first time in his NFL career, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will miss a game due to injury.
Elliott is inactive on Sunday and will not play against the San Francisco 49ers due to a calf injury.
Cowboys’ RB Ezekiel Elliott is inactive today vs. 49ers.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 20, 2020
This comes as a surprise since head coach Mike McCarthy said on Friday that he planned to play Elliott. However, McCarthy saying that was essentially the only thing that led anyone to think that Elliott was capable of playing.
This isn’t a new injury for Elliott, and though he didn’t have any setbacks after playing through it against the Cincinnati Bengals last week, he was limited in practice all week. When he was able to practice, he was walking with a limp.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy on RB Ezekiel Elliott (calf): "He's a little further away this week than he was last week" because he played Sunday vs. Bengals. "But I still play on him playing on Sunday. ...All things look like he's going to play in the game" vs. 49ers.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) December 18, 2020
If McCarthy hadn’t said “I plan on playing him,” all signs would have pointed toward Elliott not playing this weekend. Especially since McCarthy said he wasn’t progressing as well as he was the previous week.
Regardless of what changed between Friday and Sunday, Zeke won’t be suiting up for the Cowboys’ Week 15 game against the 49ers.
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