FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott made headlines Wednesday when he was limited in practice for the first time in his NFL career.
It was a change for Dallas’ durable quarterback, who hasn’t missed a game or practice in four years at the helm.
The expectation is that Prescott, who injured his throwing shoulder against the Los Angeles Rams, will play Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles aren’t changing their preparation either way, coach Doug Pederson said.
One reason: Philadelphia has a bigger problem to worry about. His name is Ezekiel Elliott.
“We understand Zeke is the guy and things are going to go through him,” Pederson told Dallas reporters on a conference call. “We know the focus is on Zeke and trying to at least slow him down.”
Historically, the Eagles have struggled to do that.
Elliott has faced Philadelphia five times since the Cowboys drafted him fourth overall in 2016. (He was sidelined for a Week 17 contest to rest ahead of the 2016 playoffs and missed another game during his 2017 suspension.) The Eagles have not defeated the Cowboys when Elliott plays. And Elliott has dominated each game. Four times he's rushed for more than 100 yards, the fifth falling just short at 96. He’s racked up at least 141 yards from scrimmage in all five contests. The Eagles are aware.
“He’s hard to bring down, but we gotta make it happen and do it with attitude,” Philadelphia defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. “When we played him the last time, he broke a lot of tackles. Just made guys miss. We gotta play with the attitude to tackle him.”
Cox’s defense will face a Cowboys offensive line coming off one of its best and most physical performances of 2019.
The Cowboys snapped a three-game skid last week with a dominant 44-21 dismantling of the Rams. The Rams entered the game averaging 99.4 rushing yards per game and allowing 104.3 to opponents. The Cowboys gashed the Rams for 263 yards, allowing Todd Gurley’s team just 20. Dallas also sustained drives to hold the ball more than 12 minutes longer than the Rams could. Perhaps even more damaging: The lopsided time of possession required the Rams' defense to play an exhausting 36+ minutes. Mission accomplished, said the Cowboys.
“It’s tough for anyone to be on the field that long,” Elliott said. “You’re just going to wear them down.”
Center Travis Frederick, one of three Dallas offensive linemen selected to the Pro Bowl this week, elaborated. “As you get later on into the season and into colder-weather games, running the ball becomes more important,” Frederick said. “We try to eventually wear on teams, and I think when you run the ball, especially this late in the season, when guys are beat up already, can help make the third and fourth quarter a little easier.”
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The Cowboys are 7-0 this season when leading at halftime. They’ve lost all seven games in which they’ve trailed at the half. So they’ll look to establish the run game through two quarters against an Eagles front that lost starting defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway in October with an ankle injury and this week placed starting linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill on injured reserve to undergo spinal surgery.
The Eagles’ rushing defense ranks third in the league, allowing 90.4 yards per game. Only twice have they allowed a 100-yard rusher this season. One was Elliott, who’s coming off a 117-yard, two-score performance. Rookie Tony Pollard pitched in 131 rushing yards and a score, averaging 10.9 yards per carry, against the Rams.
“Any time you get two guys, you’ve got to be able to stop one of them, and that’s the trouble is trying to do that,” Pederson said. “Obviously, last week was for Dallas, I mean, to get two guys to get what they did is pretty special.”
Not to mention Elliott says he feels fresher this late in the season than previously in his career.
“I feel really good,” he said. “It’s week what, 16? Normally I’m not feeling this well. I think we’ve done a great job just managing it throughout the season. Right now, it’s crunchtime.
“I’m ready for anything.”
Including the Eagles.
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.
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