Cowboys trying to work Ezekiel Elliott back in slowly to get him up to speed

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Since Ezekiel Elliott is on the Cowboys’ reserve/exempt list, the team doesn’t have to list his participation on the practice report. Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, though, said Thursday that the star running back went through a limited practice Wednesday.

“Zeke did a great job,” Garrett said before Thursday’s practice. “He was in all the meeting and the walkthrough. He was limited in practice but thought he did a good job, working through it all and we’ll just see what he’s able to do today.”

Elliott insists he can handle however many touches the Cowboys want to give him. He has averaged 25 per game in the 40 games he’s played in his career.

But he missed all of training camp and the preseason while training in Cabo. The Cowboys want to work him back in slowly, doing what they can to ensure he doesn’t get a soft tissue injury.

At the same time, they are three days from the season opener, and the Cowboys didn’t give Elliott a $90 million extension to stand on the sideline.

“Yeah, you just want to have a plan,” Garrett said. “You have to recognize where he’s been, and there’s no question he’s been working out. He’s in good shape. His weight’s good, all of that, but again he hasn’t been practicing against pro football players. So you just work your way back into it. He’s an experienced guy. He’s played a lot of football for us, and so we’ll just use our best judgment as we go based on what we see, his feedback, what he says to us, how he feels, all of that and you just take it step by step.”