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Stephen Jones: Cowboys will use run game to keep Romo healthy

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

The Dallas Cowboys got a taste of life without star quarterback Tony Romo in 2015, and they apparently have no intention repeating last season's mistakes.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said recently during an appearance on XEPRS-AM in San Diego that keeping Romo healthy is top of the team's priorities, and that their dominant-looking running game will be key to doing so.

"At the end of the day it's all about Tony's health. We've got to keep him healthy," Jones said, according to The Dallas Morning News. "We did take a big pick in Ezekiel Elliott that I think really helps everybody. Not only going to help the rushing game, but because he is so gifted catching the ball out of the backfield, pass protection. I think all of that will do a lot to Tony and at the same time take a lot of the pressure off the defense in terms of controlling the ball like we did two years ago. We're excited about where we sit right now as a team."

By selecting Elliott with the fourth overall pick in this year's draft, the Cowboys signaled their intent to return to the balanced rushing attack that led them to the NFC East title in the 2014 season.

During that campaign, Romo benefited from having a dominant ground game, putting up career-best marks in completion percentage (69.9) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (34-9).

With Romo sidelined for the majority of the the 2015 season due to a twice-broken collarbone, the Cowboys slumped to a 4-12 record.

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