LaDainian Tomlinson: Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott 'absolutely quit on this team'

Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson said one thing became clear as Ezekiel Elliott was held to a career-low eight yards on the ground in Sunday's 42-17 loss to the Denver Broncos: The Dallas Cowboys' star rusher had given up. 

"I didn’t like the way he quit today," Tomlinson said on NFL Network. "I didn’t like that. He absolutely quit on this team today. There are going to be times where you aren’t going to have room to run.”

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Tomlinson's NFL GameDay co-host Deion Sanders asked him to explain why he thought the NFL's reigning rushing champ had quit. 

“First, his attitude on the sideline," Tomlinson said. "He didn’t have any communication with his teammates. Also, he didn’t want to talk to his teammates. Sometimes when things are going wrong, as the leader of that team and as a captain, you have to step up and rally the troops.

"You have to go to the offensive line and say, ‘Hey, I know it’s tough, but we have to battle. Let’s keep fighting.” You have to go to the quarterback and say, ‘Hey, I’m not getting it done today. You have to step it up.’”

Sanders added: “I don’t think he’s mature enough at this point to do that."

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Monday he would address the effort issue with Elliott after the running back appeared to give up on an interception.

“Zeke is one of the most natural competitors I’ve ever been around,” Garrett said. “He loves to play. He loves to practice. I think we’ve seen that through his first year playing. Those two plays were not indicative of the kind of competitor that he was and we have to get that addressed.”

Elliott had nine rushing attempts as the Broncos clogged the running lanes and basically dared second-year Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott to throw the ball. Elliott's previous low (51 yards) came in his first game in the NFL last September. 

“This shows us we have a lot of work to do,” Elliott said after the game. “We’ve got to watch this film. You have to see why you weren’t effective.”

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