FOXBORO — Jerry Jones implied the Cowboys have something special planned for their former running back, Ezekiel Elliott, when he returns to AT&T Stadium as a member of the Patriots on Sunday.

Elliott, coming off the best game of his Patriots career in Sunday’s win over the Jets, kept insisting Wednesday during a news conference at Gillette Stadium that he’s handling his homecoming like any other game.

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“It’s cool going back to Dallas,” Elliott said. “I spent a lot of time there, a lot of great time there, but when you go out there, gotta keep the main thing the main thing and that’s going out there and getting better as a team and going out there to get another win. …

“I keep saying it. It’s just another week for me. Not going to make it bigger than what it is. I want to go out there, play Patriot football. We want to go out there, get better, get a win. Just the next stop on our 17-game journey.”

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told the media in Dallas that his team won’t be surprised if Elliott is a “featured player” in Sunday’s game.

“Zeke has always been a powerful, strong runner,” McCarthy said Wednesday.

Jones heaped praise on the Cowboys’ 2016 fourth-overall pick, as well.

“As far as a back that the opposing team hates to tackle, I think he’s at the top of the list,” Jones said. “Zeke took a toll on those defensive players. I’ll always remember that.”

Elliott amassed 8,262 rushing yards and 80 total touchdowns in seven seasons with the Cowboys before being released this offseason. He signed on with the Patriots in August and got off to a slow start with his new team, losing a key fumble in a Week 1 loss to the Eagles.

He began to pick up steam in Sunday’s 15-10 win over the Jets, however, gaining 80 yards on 16 carries with one 7-yard catch. He had three carries of 10-plus yards.

“I think we got some momentum up front,” Elliott said. “We had to kind of shuffle some guys around on the O-line and kind of getting a group in there. It was getting the ball rolling and not coming out and getting behind and being able to actually get more and more run attempts. Because obviously, it’s going to be tough to get a good run at the beginning of the game when everyone’s fresh. But as you get run attempt after run attempt, you tire down the defense and those 3, 4s turn into 5, 6s and bigger than that.”

It’s only been three games, but Elliott’s yards after contact per rushing attempt is down from 1.5 in 2022 to 1.2 this season, per Pro Football Reference. They maxed out at 2.3 in 2019. Pro Football Reference also hasn’t charted him for a broken tackle so far this season.

But it might not be Elliott’s age catching up with him. Fellow Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson is averaging just 2.9 yards per carry and 0.8 yards after contact per attempt. He has three broken tackles on the season.

Elliott, 28, did say he’s “definitely more comfortable in our offense” after signing in mid-August.

Elliott might not view his return to Dallas as anything special, but the Patriots will need him and Stevenson to be on the top of their games to beat the Cowboys.