The Dallas Cowboys can become the first NFL team to clinch a playoff berth this weekend.

The Cowboys would clinch with a win over the Minnesota Vikings and either a Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss or tie to the San Diego Chargers or a Washington Redskins loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

The Dallas Cowboys have no plans to decrease the workload of Ezekiel Elliott.

"The more we give Ezekiel the ball, then I think the better," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday. "We're winning with that. We're wearing them down on defense."

Elliott has 243 carries for 1,199 yards with 11 touchdowns and is on pace for 354 carries and 1,744 yards. 

"I look back at Emmitt Smith. Everybody expressed, including ourselves, concern because Emmitt was carrying such a load," Jones said. "And of course I think he carried the ball more than I think anyone has in their career in the NFL. But Emmitt was solid. He was certainly productive."

The pass rush has been a concern for the Dallas Cowboys this season despite a stellar win-loss record.

For the first time this season, the Cowboys didn't register a sack against the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving.

"I'm not concerned. I wouldn't use that word," Tyrone Crawford said. "Obviously, we want sacks no matter what. If we rush one, two, three, we always want a sack. Unfortunately, we didn't get any last week.

"But for people who don't understand what we're doing, they're probably thinking sacks is something major that has to happen. It does, don't get me wrong, but just getting them off the field in three downs is most important."

A portion of the pass rush issues stem from the Cowboys going with a three-man front more often.

The Cowboys have only 20 sacks on the season, tied for 25th in the league. Dallas is on pace for 29 sacks, which would be fewer than it had last season (31) and just one more than it had in 2014 (28).

"Not good enough," defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said. "We've got to keep working at it."

Dez Bryant and Josh Norman had to be separated by teammates after getting into a scuffle after the Dallas Cowboys' 31-26 win over Washington.

Bryant caught three of his five passes while being defended by Norman.

Bryant opened his postgame news conference with a strong rebuke of Norman.

"First off, Washington needs to get their money back from Josh Norman," said Bryant.

When Norman held Bryant to two catches for 26 yards last Thanksgiving, Norman said the Cowboys should "get Dez's $70 million back," referencing the five-year, $70 million deal Bryant signed in the summer of 2015.

Norman signed a five-year, $75 million deal with the Redskins this past summer.

"I didn't make it personal," Bryant said. "He made it personal. I was just going to come out and do my job, and that's exactly what I did. He wanted to bump. I let him bump. He got me bumping a little bit, and he made me attack him even more. You know, I honestly feel like the guy is extremely soft. I think he's just a bunch of talk. If he was out and about, I wouldn't dare on my life let him talk to me like that. Those words would never came out his mouth. Promise. Promise it wouldn't. But on another, we got after that ass. Hell of a win. You know, it feels good."

The Dallas Cowboys will face Washington on Thursday and Ezekiel Elliott wants to avoid fumble issues in the game.

Elliott, who leads the NFL in rushing as a rookie, fumbled twice in Week 2 against Washington and was replaced by Alfred Morris on the Cowboys' game-winning drive.

"I remember we were playing pretty well," Elliott said. "I remember I had some ball security issues -- that's my biggest memory. That's obviously my focus every week, but definitely even more focused coming into this week -- even seeing 24 [JOsh Norman] go out there and get a strip late in the game on Sunday night. It's something we've got to focus on, something you're aware of."

Rolando McClain is being suspended for another year, on top of the 10-game suspension he's currently serving that is scheduled to end Monday.

McClain is likely to appeal the latest suspension.

McClain will be out until at least November 2017 before he's eligible to apply for reinstatement.

McClain was serving a 10-game suspension for testing positive for opiates. 

Tony Romo asked the Dallas Cowboys for a chance to win back his job from Dak Prescott as starting quarterback before announcing he accepted his fate as the backup.

Romo had a good week in practice on the scout team before they played Pittsburgh.

According to those there, 100 percent is selling it short. “He looked like (Ben) Roethlisberger,” is how one Dallas source illustrated the Pittsburgh look Romo gave the Dallas defense in practice.

“Tony’s smart,” Stephen Jones said questioned about Romo asking for his job back. “He’s very bright. And so when he came out and said it, in the end, I don’t think it took him long to figure that wouldn’t be a great thing for the team. We’ve got a good thing, and no one wants Dak looking over his shoulder.”

Prescott has been the right fit for the Cowboys at this time.

“I think he understands that,” Jones said. “As a competitor, does he want it? Yes. He wouldn’t be in the NFL if he didn’t have that burning in his belly. He’s dying to get out there. And we talked all offseason, he’s never been this fired up about a team, he couldn’t wait. And now to see it work like he thought it would, and the team doing something special, and to want back in, that’s not selfish. It’s just hard. He’s tremendously unselfish, because he understands it.”

Eric Dickerson doesn't think Ezekiel Elliott will break his rookie rushing record this season.

"Zeke does a great job of picking and choosing his holes, he really does," Dickerson said. "And the offensive line, they stopped everybody at the line of scrimmage. But is he gonna break that record? No, he ain't gonna break that record. That record's safe."

Elliott is on pace to come within 21 yards of the 1,808 mark set by Dickerson in 1983.

There are four teams that Tony Romo could end up on next season if his situation with the Dallas Cowboys behind Dak Prescott remains unchanged.

In no particular order, Adam Schefter reports Romo could end up on the Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Denver Broncos or Arizona Cardinals.

If Prescott continues to merit playing as the starter, the Cowboys would struggle to carry Romo's $14 million base salary.

Tony Romo addressed the media on Tuesday about his situation with the Dallas Cowboys as he returns from injury while Dak Prescott has led the team to an 8-1 record.

"To say the first half of the season has been emotional would be a huge understatement," Romo said. "Getting hurt when you feel like you have the best team you've ever had was a soul-crushing moment for me. Then to learn it's not three of our weeks but 10 is another blow. And through it all you have a tremendous amount of guilt on having let your teammates, fans and organization down. After all they were depending on you to bring them a championship. That's what quarterbacks are supposed to do. That's how we're judged. I love that. I still do."

Romo was injured on Aug. 25th in a preseason game.

"He's earned the right to be our quarterback," Romo said. "As hard as that is for me to say, he's earned that right. He's guided our team to an 8-1 record and that's hard to do. If you think for a second that I don't want to be out there, then you've probably never felt the pure ecstasy of competing and winning. That hasn't left me. In fact it may burn more now than ever."