On Thursday afternoon, a hearing convened on the Ezekiel Elliott injunction that wasn’t originally supposed to happen. Reportedly, Elliott’s camp saw the hearing, which was not an automatic to happen, as a positive.
Here’s the latest on that hearing and where things stand for the Cowboys’ star running back:
- The hearing ended after 30 minutes without a decision and there is no timetable for a ruling (Twitter link via Dan Graziano of ESPN.com). If no ruling comes down by the end of the business day on Friday, Elliott will presumably in action on Sunday against the Falcons.
- If the next ruling does go in the NFL’s favor, his six-game ban will start immediately. “The moment the stay is lifted, the suspension is enforced,” league spokesman Joe Lockhart said (via the Dallas News’ David Moore). “Whatever time that happens, it’s enforced. If the result is some extension to hear further arguments, the suspension is stayed. This is very much in the court’s hands right now. They will dictate when the suspension will start.”
- The judges asked the NFLPA what difference it would have made to have Elliott’s accuser testify at the arbitration hearing, as requested by Elliott’s camp (Twitter link via Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News).
- They also wondered how NFL investigators could suspend Elliott on a “credible evidence” standard when they admitted to finding credibility issues with the accuser (Twitter links). The league replied that the credibility issues were about only two of the five alleged incidents and Elliott was not punished for those.