Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Ezekiel Elliott: Don't need 'rushing champion to win a Super Bowl'

As Ezekiel Elliott's training camp holdout continues into the second week of training camp, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones does not appear to be overly concerned. 

Jones, an owner with 30 years of experience in the league, pointed out that the first team to win a Super Bowl with a rushing champion in the backfield was Emmitt Smith, who did it for the Cowboys in 1992.    

"The point there is you don't have to have a rushing champion to win a Super Bowl," Jones told CBS 11 from the team's training camp facility in Oxnard, California. "But Emmitt was the first one to do it." 

Smith went on to accomplish the feat twice more, in 1993 -- but not before holding out the first two games of the regular season -- and 1995. The last back to lead the league in rushing and simultaneously hoist the Lombardi Trophy was Terrell Davis with the Broncos in 1998.

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Since Dallas selected him No. 4 overall in the 2016 draft, Elliott has led the NFL in rushing in two of three seasons; he's averaged 101.2 yards per game on the ground and has scored 34 total touchdowns. 

"That's one of the dilemmas at running back, is that the league knows that you can win Super Bowls and not have the Emmitt Smith back there or the Zeke back there," Jones said.

The Cowboys find themselves in an interesting spot. Quarterback Dak Prescott's rookie deal will be expiring this season and he's in line for a potentially lucrative extension. The team has also expressed a desire to lock up wide receiver Amari Cooper and linebacker Jaylon Smith. 

Especially with the declining value of running backs across the league, Dallas may not want to pony up for the Ohio State product, who has two years remaining on his rookie deal. 

"Consequently, when we're looking at putting Zeke's contract in place, we've got to realize that the ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl," Jones said. "So you got to do all of the things along with having Zeke that allow you to have other players so that you can win the Super Bowl. That's what we're going through." 

There's also the question of Elliott's off-the-field history. He was suspended six games during the 2017 season over allegations of domestic violence and was involved in an incident in Las Vegas this past spring in which he shoved a security guard at a concert. The NFL did not levy any punishment against him although charges have been pressed.

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