Ezekiel Elliott heard the criticism from NFL Network's LaDainian Tomlinson regarding his lack of effort on an interception in the Dallas Cowboys' 25-point loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
Tomlinson said Elliott "quit" on his team during the defeat. The second-year running back owned up to the critique in his first comments since the loss.
"I definitely heard it. I guess you could say it looked like that," Elliott said Thursday. "I would say I was just very frustrated, but that's no excuse for the lack of effort I showed on tape. And I just can't do that. Being one of the leaders on the team and being a guy that people count on, I can't put that type of stuff on film."
Elliott added the team "addressed it in house" when asked if coach Jason Garrett talked to him about the lack of effort.
"It's definitely not me," he said. "It's definitely not the type of player I am. It's definitely not who I am for this team. I just can't do that. I was frustrated and I wasn't myself."
Elliott earned a career-low 8 rushing yards on nine attempts in the 42-17 loss to Denver.
Despite the outside criticism, Elliott said he has support within the locker room.
"We really don't care what you guys say," he said. "We don't care what the critics say. We don't go out there and play for you guys. We don't go out there and play for the talking heads. We don't go out there to play for you guys to say we did well. We go out there and play for each other. We go out there to win ballgames. We go out there to have each other's back. So that's our motivation. We don't need anything extra."
The NFL's reigning rushing champion is ready to put the issue behind him heading into a *Monday Night Football* tussle with the Arizona Cardinals.
