What Cowboys players said about Ezekiel Elliott’s absence on team charter to training camp

OXNARD, Calif. — The Cowboys’ team charter arrived Thursday afternoon in Southern California from Dallas.

Running back Ezekiel Elliott, in search of a contract extension, didn’t.

“To me, it doesn’t make a difference,” center Travis Frederick said Thursday afternoon after the team landed. “I don’t think anybody’s concerned about it.”

Commuting via the team-organized charter isn’t mandatory; physical evaluations and conditioning Friday morning are mandatory. Even if Elliott holds out and misses Friday, teammates said they wouldn’t begrudge their Pro Bowl running back.

“This game’s a business and everyone has to treat it as such,” said Frederick, whose $56.4 million extension during training camp in 2016 made him the highest-paid center in the league. “I certainly hold no hard feelings to anyone that’s trying to do that, get the business done and protect themselves and their family.

“We’re going to work with the guys that we have. That’s not a dig at anybody. That’s just how it works.”

Ezekiel Elliott desires a new contract from the Cowboys. (Photo: Matthew Emmons, USA TODAY Sports)

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Added linebacker Jaylon Smith: “I love the hell out of Zeke.”

Smith joins quarterback Dak Prescott, receiver Amari Cooper and cornerback Byron Jones as players who executive vice president Stephen Jones has acknowledged the team wants to extend.

“He may already be here, I’m not sure,” Smith said from the team’s home for the next three weeks. “I’m going to go in and find out.”

In April, the Cowboys picked up Elliott’s fifth-year option. The rushing title defender is due to earn $3.85 million in base salary this season and $9 million the next.

Elliott has led the league in rushing yards per game (101.2) each of the last three seasons. Since the Cowboys drafted him fourth overall in 2016, he has carried the ball 868 times for 4,048 yards and 28 touchdowns in 40 games. He also has 135 receptions for 1,199 yards and six scores. In 2017, Elliott missed six games to suspension for violation of the league’s personal-conduct policy.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.

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