FRISCO — Ezekiel Elliott said he is not a patient man.

The Cowboys running back has spent most of his professional career as a starting running back. Until now.

After taking first-team snaps during training camp practices and starting the opening game of the season, Elliott, the third-leading rusher in franchise history, has been limited.

It’s not due to an injury.

On the season, Elliott has just 81 yards on 24 carries with one touchdown. Last week, Elliott rushed for 19 yards on five carries in a win over the Giants.

He played in just 32% of the offensive snaps for the Cowboys. That’s 85 in total.

“It’s something we have to work through,” he said after Thursday’s practice. “The last few games have been tough. I think we had played 22 times before the last two minutes of the last game. It wasn’t very fluid. We have fallen behind, hopefully things will get better.”

This offseason, the Cowboys signed Elliott to a one-year deal to acquire a higher-priced free agent running back like Derrick Henry, who currently leads the league with 480 rushing yards.

Elliott has taken limited snaps over the past three weeks, while Rico Dowdle and fullback Hunter Luepke have gotten the bulk of them.

“I’m sure it’s frustrating,” quarterback Dak Prescott said of his good friend. “Damn frustrating. He’s a team-first guy.”

It’s baffling why Elliott was given first-team snaps in training camp with the goal of starting the season fresh, only to see limited opportunities once the regular season started.

When asked about this, Elliott did not respond.

Continuing to be patient, he said, “Yes, you just have to make the most of the opportunities I get and go from there.”

The Cowboys have the second-fewest rushing attempts (85) in the NFL this season and rank last in rushing offense at 75.3 yards per game.

“I think it’s more about the details and I think, as always, you’re working on the details of the running courses, the decisions and how they sync up with your run blocking unit,” coach Mike McCarthy said of the Cowboys’ running courses . game.

“I thought last week (80m) was our best day in that area. So it’s something that we not only have to build on, but we have to be very consistent about it.”

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