As Yogi Berra once said, “it’s getting late early.” With the Dallas Cowboys closing shop on Oxnard, completing the first part of training camp and traveling to Hawaii to play preseason game No. 2, running back Ezekiel Elliott is still holding out.

While not having Elliott doesn’t seem to be bothering Jerry Jones, who made jokes about the holdout, it would be helpful to get the star runner back sooner rather than later.

Jerry Jones was asked how he compares Hawaii to Cabo: "You can get wet in both of them." (Jones starts laughing) "Bye guys. You know I'm fixing to really mess up. I can feel it coming on." — Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 14, 2019

What is an issue, however, is that Jones believes rookie RB Tony Pollard is the answer to replacing Elliott.

Usually, it’s fans and media that drive hype trains during this time of year. In the case of Tony Pollard, the Cowboys are doing it themselves. I wonder why that might be 🤔 pic.twitter.com/a109S9zHMs — David Helman (@HelmanDC) August 11, 2019

Let’s hope Jones is trying to send a message to Elliott and his representatives with this quote because that’s the only way it makes sense. There has been no evidence that Pollard is capable of carrying the load.

In college, Pollard had a career high of 78 carries in his senior year. That equates to just under six carries a game, whereas Elliott averaged over 20 totes a game last season and almost 22 per game for his career. If we include receptions, Pollard still only had 243 touches in his three years at Memphis, while Elliott had 304 carries alone in 2018, and a total of 381 touches on the year.

Nothing in Pollard’s past has shown he can be the workhorse Elliott has been for the Cowboys. However, despite what Jones says, Pollard doesn’t need to be the bell cow. The rookie just needs to be a part of the plan if Elliott sits out meaningful games. That’s why the team brought back Alfred Morris, to help share the duties that Elliott dominated. Pollard may get significant carries, but he isn’t going to carry the load in the backfield.

There are reasons for Jones to feel good about Pollard, though, which is also part of Jones’ excitement. The rookie RB’s play in training camp has drawn praise from most observers and he will be a big part of the offense, even if Elliott comes back.

Can't stop thinking of how impressive Tony Pollard looked while I was in Oxnard for 2 days. Running style reminds me of Lenny Moore (Google if you're under 40). I know Cowboys want to sign Zeke, but they have great insurance in Pollard. Either way, he'll be involved this year. pic.twitter.com/hnpxmQaPew — Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) August 7, 2019

Jones wrote many of the chapters in the art of the negotiation book, and it appears as though this quote is just one of his ways of communicating with Elliott. It’s the easiest explanation for why Jones said Pollard is capable of carrying the load.

There is still time to get it figured out if Elliott doesn’t show, but the Cowboys seem to be coming up with their fallback strategy. Hopefully it involves more than Pollard being the primary ball carrier.

You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.