Fallout From Ezekiel Elliott Ruling

As expected after receiving a ruling in its favor Thursday, the NFL announced Ezekiel Elliott‘s suspension will commence immediately. Barring a further court ruling to swing the balance of power back into the Cowboys running back’s hands, his suspension won’t end until Friday, Nov. 24 — a day after the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day game against the Chargers. The Cowboys are in a bye week, but Elliott could not go to a team practice if Dallas was to have one this week, per Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. A possible refiling of this case in New York Federal Court or back in Texas could lead to Elliott being reinstated again. But he’s in real danger of missing next weekend’s game against the 49ers because now the running back’s camp and NFLPA are the ones on the wrong end of a waiting game — just as the NFL was leading up to this ruling. That could be dicey for the Cowboys’ hopes at deploying their top weapon in Week 7.

Here’s the latest from the ongoing Elliott saga.

• Elliott’s attorney, Frank Salzano, said (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, on Twitter) the Elliott team is “exploring all of our legal options.” A decision on this matter will come in “a couple of days.” The NFLPA’s current stance is with the appellate court’s Thursday ruling hinging on procedural matters, determining Elliott’s side acted improperly by filing an appeal of a Harold Henderson verdict that had yet to arrive, the lack of due process afforded to the 22-year-old player by the NFL wasn’t addressed (Twitter link).
• The three judges ruling on this case for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 against Elliott, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes this result likely flips if there were two judges appointed by a Democratic president rather than two appointed by a Republican leader. Democrat-appointed judges tend to side with labor, whereas Republican-installed judges generally side with employers. This puts Jerry Jones in an interesting position, having issued a mandate about national anthem protests that falls in line with a Republican president’s stance and now seeing his running back’s suspension reinstated because of a management-over-labor ruling — one Jones vigorously disputed when it was handed down.
• Rapoport notes (on Twitter) an en banc hearing in front of the Fifth Circuit — meaning the case would be heard by all of the court’s judges rather than a three-judge panel — would be an option for Elliott since it would keep the preliminary injunction alive and allow the Cowboys second-year runner a chance to keep playing through this ruling instead of waiting for his case to be heard by another court. It took 10 days for the Fifth District’s three-judge panel to issue a ruling for the NFL, which waited multiple weeks for that case to be heard. Going through another court would be trouble, since it would likely mean part of this suspension would be served in the meantime. However, Rapoport notes (video link) this and the refiling in New York or Texas options are long shots.
• Changes on Dallas’ offensive line have limited Elliott compared to his dominant start to his rookie campaign, Alex Marvez of The Sporting News writes. His per-carry average through five games is down to 3.7 yards compared to 5.0, and La’el Collins and Chaz Green have proven to be steps down from Doug Free and Ronald Leary, respectively.