Alfred Morris: I’m definitely confident in myself; I still have it

[Rowdy]

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While the Cowboys held their first padded practice of training camp, Ezekiel Elliott was in Cabo on Tuesday. So the Cowboys signed Alfred Morris for veteran depth.

“We were going to look at something no matter what, but probably not as much [if Elliott was in camp],” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said, via David Moore of the Dallas Morning News.

Morris, 30, backed up Elliott for two seasons, and rushed for 790 yards and three touchdowns in 28 games for the Cowboys. He spent last season in San Francisco.

Morris had three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to begin his career in Washington.

“I’m always ready. Any of these backs would say that,” Morris said, via Rob Phillips of the team website. “That’s what we do. We love what we do. We’re good at what we do. Any of us could be featured.

“I’m definitely confident in myself that I can be a featured back. I still have it.”

Morris confirmed the Cowboys have given him no assurances. He could find himself back on the free agent market when Elliott returns as the Cowboys drafted Tony Pollard and Mike Weber as Elliott’s backups.

“That doesn’t matter,” Morris said. “I’m Alfred. I’m going to come and do what I have to do. I’m always going to show up and give it my best. Whatever they do on the back end, that’s up to them. It’s not my business.”

While Morris has 1,373 career rushing attempts, the team’s other five running backs in camp have a combined six. Those belong to Darius Jackson.

“Obviously, Zeke is not here,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “[Morris] is a really good veteran player who we know and we really like. We wanted to keep him last year, and he felt there was a better opportunity in San Francisco, so when we had the chance to bring him back we thought it was a good thing for our team. Obviously, in Zeke’s absence, there are plenty of reps for a guy like that to get, so we’ll ease him into practice here the next few days.”