A judge has denied the NFL’s request for an expedited hearing in Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott‘s suspension case, according to legal analyst Daniel Wallach (Twitter link). The league had been pushing for an October 27 hearing, but the case will instead be heard on October 30 as originally planned.
The most immediate impact of Judge Katherine Failla is that Elliott will be available to play in Dallas’ Week 8 contest against the Redskins, which takes place just one day before the October 30 hearing date. That’s an incredibly important NFC East matchup, especially given that the Cowboys now sit at 3-3 after Sunday’s thrashing of the 49ers (Washington, meanwhile, is 3-2 pending the result of Monday Night Football).
Following that game, Elliott and his team will take his case to Failla. Elliott, of course, is facing a six-game suspension stemming from domestic violence allegations, but last week was granted a temporary restraining order against the NFL that allowed him to stay on the field. If Ellliott’s ban sticks after Week 8, he would miss critical games against the Falcons, Chiefs, Eagles, and Redskins, and wouldn’t be able to return until Week 15.
Elliott is fresh off his best performance of the season, as he totaled 219 yards from scrimmage and scored three times against San Francisco. If Elliott is suspended, the Cowboys would likely turn to a combination of Alfred Morris and Darren McFadden in the backfield.
He would return week 15, not week 17.
This entire process is absurd.
I would go get Murray back from Tennessee.
“Coach says stops beatens da womens…..me sorry. Play now?”
Why do people feel the need to comment on something they have zero understanding of and have taken less than no time to even look at a single fact???
Am I the only one that would like to see him just get this over with? Unlike deflate-gate the subject matter here is domestic violence and it makes me really uncomfortable seeing Zeke on the field weekly. Just get it over with so we don’t have to hear commentary about it every day. Different sport but Aroldis Chapman took his games and came back and his doing his job fine with little mention of it as time has gone on. While I don’t disagree that clearjng one’s name is vital, we live in a forgive and forget society if you really show remorse and work to better yourself from the experience