Elliott disappointed with debut: I wasn't brought here to be average

Ezekiel Elliott won't be settling for the pedestrian level of production he managed in his highly anticipated NFL debut.

Asked to evaluate his performance in Sunday's season-opening loss to the New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys running back spoke of the need to be better than average.

"I think I was average, you know. Average," Elliott said, according to Drew Davison of The Star-Telegram. "That's not why I was brought here to be average, so we've got a lot of work to get done. A lot to work on. But, you know, it's the NFL. You can't win every game, so I've just got to get back to work, and get better next week."

Elliott, selected No. 4 overall in this year's draft, joined the Cowboys with higher expectations than any running back in recent memory. The favorable situation that comes with working behind the league's most talented offensive line understandably made him a favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors heading in.

His candidacy for that award certainly won't be affected by one game to start his career, but Elliott and the Cowboys will be looking for much more than the 2.5 yards per carry he averaged on 20 attempts against New York.

"I was hoping to have a better day for sure," Elliott said. "The type of guy I am, the type of competitor I am, I'm a little bit disappointed. But you've got to start somewhere. All we can do is get better from here.

"We didn't play terrible today. We had a lot of chances to win the game. We didn't score in the red zone. We've got to punch it in in the red zone. But, I mean, just got to get better."

The Ohio State product should be given every opportunity to get on track in Week 2, as the running game remains imperative to keeping pressure off Dak Prescott in Tony Romo's absence.

Next on the schedule for Dallas is a matchup with division-rival Washington Redskins, who surrendered a 26th-ranked 122.6 rushing yards per game last season.