UPDATE: Ezekiel Elliott's injunction has been overturned. Elliott will be suspended.
DALLAS – Ezekiel Elliott skipped his weekly media session Wednesday because of more legal limbo in the star Dallas Cowboys running back’s fight over the NFL’s six-game suspension on alleged domestic violence.
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The difference this week is that Elliott, the NFL’s second-leading rusher, was with his teammates. That wasn’t the case early last week when the 22-year-old was suspended until Friday after a judge rejected his request for a second injunction.
The third legal reprieve came in an emergency stay two days before the Cowboys beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
Now Elliott seeks a longer-lasting injunction from a three-judge panel that will hear his case Thursday in New York.
A ruling could come before Sunday, when Dallas (5-3), on a three-game winning streak with significant contributions from Elliott, visits defending NFC champion Atlanta (4-4).
3PM update from ESPN: Ezekiel Elliott hearing over after 30 minutes. No decision, no timetable for decision given.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on his radio show Wednesday he believed Elliott was planning to attend the hearing. If so, it will be with the blessing of coach Jason Garrett.
Elliott attended the hearing in New York last week after which U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla rejected all the arguments of his legal team in reinstating the suspension levied by Commissioner Roger Goodell in August.
The suspension followed the NFL’s yearlong investigation after prosecutors in Columbus, Ohio, cited conflicting evidence when declining to pursue the case in the city where Elliott starred for Ohio State. The allegations stemmed from incidents in the summer of 2016.
“Again, we’re going to focus on what we can control in that situation,” Garrett said earlier this week. “Zeke has done a really good job of that. Until someone tells us otherwise, we’ll proceed accordingly.”
Elliott, who led the NFL in rushing as a rookie last season, has been suspended briefly twice as the case has taken twists and turns in courtrooms from Texas to Louisiana to New York. He missed a day at the facility in mid-October, and three more last week.
The saga hasn’t affected Elliott on the field lately. He had three straight 100-yard games, the latter pair starting a two-game winning streak. In a 28-17 win against the Chiefs on Sunday, he scored the go-ahead touchdown in the second half and finished with 93 yards.
Over the past month, Elliott has climbed the NFL rushing chart and now trails this year’s dynamic rookie, Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt, by 7 yards. Elliott has 793 yards and is tied with Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams for the league lead in touchdowns rushing with seven.
“I’ve continued to say, we’re going to run our offense regardless of who’s in,” said quarterback Dak Prescott, who shared a remarkable debut season with Elliott and was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
“I’m sure if the quarterback changes we’re going to run the exact same offense that we run. So for the most part it’s about coming in and controlling the things that we can control, giving a great effort and just studying the game plan for any running back or any receiver, being ready to go for Sunday.”
If Elliott loses the latest ruling, his legal options are likely to be near an end. He would miss all but the last two games of the regular season, just as the Cowboys were emerging as a playoff contender a year after the surprising rookie duo carried them to the top seed in the NFC at 13-3.
“It’s just doing whatever I can to get the best out of these other guys,” Prescott said. “For the situation with Zeke, it’s exactly that. I’m going to do the best I can to get the most out of him when he’s here and make sure he’s in a good place and (has) a good attitude when he’s not.”
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Another hearing set over Cowboys RB Elliott’s 6-game ban
A federal appeals court has set a Thursday hearing as attorneys for Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott seek a longer-lasting injunction to stop his six-game suspension over domestic violence allegations.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday issued an emergency stay of the NFL’s punishment, the third legal reprieve for Elliott. It cleared last year’s league rushing leader to play in Sunday’s game against Kansas City. Elliott scored the go-ahead touchdown in the Cowboy’s 28-17 win over the Chiefs.
It is possible, if not likely, that the three-judge panel in New York will rule as early as Thursday, after oral arguments, on whether Elliott can play Sunday at Atlanta.
None of the judges assigned to Elliott’s case presided over the NFL’s winning appeal in Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension in the Deflategate case.
Elliott’s suspension has been weaving through the courts since he was ordered in August to serve the ban for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
AP source: Jones threatens Goodell deal after Elliott ban
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has threatened to sue the NFL over a proposed contract extension for Commissioner Roger Goodell, a dispute apparently sparked by star running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension over alleged domestic violence, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Jones told the six owners on the compensation committee he had hired high-profile attorney David Boies and was prepared to sue if the group voted to extend Goodell’s deal, the person told the AP. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one has been authorized to reveal details.
Jones also has expressed disapproval with the structure and compensation in the contract extension, another person familiar with the proposed lawsuit says. That person also spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason.
The actions of Jones were first reported by The New York Times.
All 32 owners voted in May to extend Goodell’s contract and authorized the compensation committee to work out the details. Goodell suspended Elliott in August after a yearlong NFL investigation. Prosecutors in Ohio declined to pursue the domestic violence case.
Jones, who is not on the compensation committee but is one of the most powerful owners in the league, has expressed frustration over the NFL’s pursuit of criminal matters with its own investigators.
Asked on his radio show last week if he wanted Goodell to remain commissioner, Jones avoided a direct answer and said Elliott was a “victim of an overcorrection” because of the NFL’s mishandling of former Baltimore running back Ray Rice’s domestic case involving his then-fiancee.
Goodell’s initial suspension of two games was sharply criticized because of a video showing Rice dragging an unconscious Janay Palmer from an elevator. Another video later surfaced of Rice punching Palmer in the face, and he was suspended indefinitely. The suspension was lifted by an arbitrator, but Rice never signed with another team.
“I can show you many positive things that this commissioner, Roger, has done, is doing and I can show you some of the things that he wants to take back,” Jones said on his radio show Oct. 31.
“This is a very example of it. I’m sure he’d like to take back his initial Ray Rice stance and a few others. He’s in the process of having tried to correct that and in doing so, Zeke is a victim of an overcorrection.”
The NFL hired former New York prosecutor Lisa Friel to help shape the stronger policy on domestic violence that came out of the Rice incident. The updated policy included the league’s ability to investigate cases on its own regardless of law enforcement’s involvement.
Prosecutors in Elliott’s case cited conflicting evidence when deciding not to pursue the case. The NFL’s probe continued for a year after that decision. Jones said his running back has been treated unfairly, and Elliott has denied the allegations of his ex-girlfriend under oath.
“I am very troubled by the swings that we’ve had,” Jones said on his radio program. “His swing of judgment has been unbelievable from the Ray Rice thing all the way up to one or two games, all the way to the six-game suspension when you’ve truly got a debate. In our legal system it has to be stronger than that for somebody who has done it.”
Goodell’s decision to suspend Elliott prompted weeks of twists and turns in courtrooms from Texas to Louisiana to New York. A three-judge panel in New York has a hearing Thursday to consider another injunction to stop the suspension. Elliott, on his third legal reprieve, has played all eight games for the Cowboys.
“We make the commissioner in the NFL the most powerful person that I know of as to the organization and it’s constituency, so it’s a big deal not only when we’re hiring, but when we extend him,” Jones said after a game in Washington two weekends ago. “So there’s a lot of consideration to it, and it shouldn’t surprise anybody.”
Hill Mary? Crazy TD spices up drab day for Chiefs in loss
Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs spend time in practice on the improbable play that got them back in a game against the Dallas Cowboys before eventually losing.
Now that the toss-and-run play to Tyreek Hill has worked, maybe it needs a name.
The “Hill Mary” perhaps?
An otherwise drab day for the NFL’s third-ranked offense got a brief boost on the crazy score with the clock expired at the end of the first half in a 28-17 loss to the Cowboys on Sunday.
“There’s so many different situations at the end of half and end of game depending on how they play you and time on the clock,” Smith said. “So I felt good about taking a shot as opposed to throw up a Hail Mary there.”
Trailing 14-3, the Chiefs were at their 44 with 2 seconds left before halftime when the Cowboys used three linemen and a linebacker near the line of scrimmage and dropped everyone else back.
Hill caught an easy toss from Smith at the Cowboys 42 and started toward the goal line with three blockers in front.
The speedy Hill motored around Orlando Scandrick at the 25, cut behind two blocks from Demarcus Robinson inside the 10 and sidestepped overpursuing linebacker Anthony Hitchens to finish the stunning TD.
Remarkably, it appeared Hill was untouched all the way, with only safety Xavier Woods getting close with an outstretched left arm as he slid past. Fellow safety Byron Jones ripped off his helmet in frustration as Hill crossed the goal line.
“It’s just a feel thing,” Hill said. “I’m a punt returner. I guess it was set up like a punt return. So I just used my instincts.”
Even better for the Chiefs, they were getting the ball in the second half, and Jones was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Kansas City got the ball at its 38 and took the lead at 17-14 nine plays later on Travis Kelce’s 2-yard score, prompting an even better celebration with a sack race between the All-Pro tight end, Hill and Robinson.
But the Chiefs stalled on their next possession after Ezekiel Elliott’s go-ahead scoring run, and they were down 11 again when they got the ball back with 9 minutes remaining.
That drive ended with Smith’s first interception of the season, stopping a streak of 293 passes without a pick and helping the Cowboys forget what happened at the end of the half.
“There were guys that were a little upset,” defensive end Tyrone Crawford said. “It was one of those plays that you run in Madden that was super lucky. We knew that. We just had to go out there and play ball in the second half and not get down on ourselves.”
Rookie Kareem Hunt, the NFL rushing leader coming in, matched a career low with nine carries for 37 yards. He lost the matchup with Elliott, who led the league in rushing as a rookie a year ago. Elliott had 93 yards.
Even though they will be featured in highlights all week, the Chiefs have lost three of four since a 5-0 start, and are now headed to their bye.
“It’s hard to have great energy with two three-and-outs right off the bat,” Smith said. “It’s easy to say that the energy was down. But we weren’t executing.”
At least they executed flawlessly on one play.
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