After allowing Tony Pollard to leave in free agency, the Dallas Cowboys went with the ultimate frugal approach to the running back position. They re-signed Rico Dowdle and brought back Ezekiel Elliott after he spent one year with the New England Patriots.

They planned to use those two in a committee with Royce Freeman and Deuce Vaughn. Freeman was cut before the regular season, and they added Dalvin Cook to the practice squad. Still, the committee approach seemed to be the plan as Elliott took 51 percent of the snaps in Week 1 and Dowdle had 44 percent.

Since then, Dowdle has remained close to that number of snaps, but his touches have increased. Elliott, on the other hand, has seen his usage dip — with six rushing attempts being the most he’s had since the opener.

This is understandable since Elliott is averaging just 3.27 yards per attempt compared to the 4.09 for Dowdle. It makes even more sense considering Dowdle has improved with 133 yards on 31 carries over the past two weeks. However, Jerry Jones says there’s another reason. He believes the Cowboys should be “saving” Elliott.

Presumably, Jones is saying the Cowboys will need Elliott to take the lead down the stretch as they push for playoff positioning. This feels delusional given his performance but then again, Jones did try to sell Elliott as a franchise back to the fan base after deciding not to select one in the draft.

To be fair to Elliott, there’s a role for him as a short-yardage back. He’s not someone who will break away from the pack but he rarely loses yards. So perhaps there will be a role for him — and he could convert some key first-down runs.

That being said, he’s not the type of player who needs to be preserved for the team to find success. No matter how bad Jones wants that to be the case.