FRISCO, Texas – Does Ezekiel Elliott know the NFL's rookie rushing record?
"Um, yeah, I do," he answered a reporter Wednesday with a laugh.
For the record, Eric Dickerson has the all-time mark with 1,808 yards in 1983, 12 years before Elliott was born.
As the Cowboys' first-round pick gets set for his regular-season debut Sunday against the New York Giants, he's not focused on individual accolades. In his mind, if he helps his team win games, the stats will take care of itself.
"Honestly, yeah, that's something I do want to accomplish, but it's not a priority," Elliott said. "What's a priority is going out there and winning ballgames every week."
Elliott is used to winning. He rushed for an Ohio State bowl-record 246 yards and four touchdowns in the first College Football Playoff National Championship inside AT&T Stadium a year and a half ago. An elite college career made him the Cowboys' earliest draft pick (No. 4 overall) in 25 years.
He missed most of training camp and the first two preseason games with a sore hamstring, which he deemed "100 percent" Wednesday with credit to the athletic training staff. He played 14 snaps Aug. 25 at Seattle, according to Pro Football Focus, and sat out the Sept. 1 preseason finale against the Texans, but said his conditioning is "top notch" for any workload the offense needs this Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
The most carries Elliott had in a single game at Ohio State was 36. In Dallas, he won't have to do the work by himself. The Cowboys kept four running backs and two fullbacks on the 53-man roster, including accomplished free agent addition Alfred Morris who will be part of the rotation.
"Just whatever the team requires of me, honestly," Elliott said. "I'm going to go out there and do what's asked of me go to help us win the game.
"I'm not going to try to go out there and try to put a numerical value on how many yards I want to run or how many touchdowns I plan on scoring. I just want to go out there and compete and win."
