Patriots' Bill Belichick on Ezekiel Elliott: 'I Look Forward to Working with Him'

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is excited to see what running back Ezekiel Elliott brings to the table now that he is a member of the AFC East team.

"Yeah, good to have Zeke," Belichick told reporters. "We had a good visit with him, and I look forward to working with him."

The Patriots aren't going to get the version of Elliott who dominated in the early portion of his career as a Pro Bowler in three of his first four seasons. The Ohio State product led the league in rushing in two of his first three years as well and was the focal point of the Dallas Cowboys offense.

However, injuries and a workload that has seen him top 230 carries in all seven of his NFL seasons have sapped him of some of his explosiveness. He ran for a career-worst 3.8 yards per carry last season.

New England likely won't ask him to carry the ball that often in 2023 since it has Rhamondre Stevenson as the presumed starter. Elliott can still be a red-zone threat after running for 12 touchdowns in 2022 and has always been solid in pass protection throughout his career.

"Well, we'll see," Belichick said when asked about what the running back will do for the offense. "I've never coached Zeke before, but I'm glad we have him. I spent time with him last night and on the trip to (go over) terminology and plays and protections, things like that. We'll work him in there when he's ready and see how that goes."

If nothing else, he gives New England an overqualified backup who can find the goal line in important moments.