Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones has talked about the need for wide receiver Dez Bryant to eliminate “distractions” a couple of times recently and Bryant’s not the only offensive player he puts in that category.
Jones sent a similar message to running back Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott contested a six-game suspension for much of last season before serving it in the second half of the year and was involved in a handful of other off-field incidents that landed him in headlines while the league was investigating a domestic violence allegation.
The Cowboys backed Elliott in his fight against the suspension, but Jones said he still needs to focus on making sure everything is moving in a positive direction.
“I know Zeke wants to be great -- I’m convinced of that, that he wants to be great,” Jones said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “He’s also got to understand that, to be great, you can’t have these things that we call distractions and things of that nature. Things that take away, not only from him, but from our team. ... Obviously, right up through the start of last season, there were things that were popping up. We haven’t seen that as of late and hopefully that’s a good indicator that he understands.”
Jerry Jones talked this week about making the offense friendlier to quarterback Dak Prescott. One way to help make that happen is to have Elliott available and focused on football for all 16 games.