The latest legal volley in the Ezekiel Elliott case has gone in the NFL’s favor. The Second Circuit has ruled in favor of the Cowboys’ running back. His six-game suspension goes into effect immediately, meaning that he will not be eligible to return until Dec. 24 against the Seahawks unless there is another ruling to shift things back in his favor. 

The “good news” for Elliott is that his appeal will be heard on an expedited basis. It’s possible that he will be able to get another ruling from the courts before the six-game suspension ends.

Today’s hearing lasted only 30 minutes and ended without a ruling right away. Minutes later, however, the judging panel came back with a verdict to deny Elliott’s request for an injunction.

While Elliott is out, the Cowboys are expected to lean on Alfred Morris, Rod Smith, and Darren McFadden to keep the running game moving. Those three cannot offer the same explosiveness as Elliott, but it’s as good of a Plan B as anyone could have in the NFL.

Elliott, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 draft, has 783 yards and seven touchdowns off of 191 carries this season (4.1 yards per carry). He also has 19 catches for 210 yards and two scores.

Assuming the ban holds up, Elliott will miss games against the Falcons, Eagles, Chargers, Redskins, Giants, and Raiders.

Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott will suit up this weekend against the Chiefs. On Friday morning, the running back’s camp won a crucial decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Twitter link via attorney Daniel Wallach). 

The motion for a brief administrative stay will allow Elliott to play in the Cowboys’ upcoming game, but a six-game suspension still looms. He’ll remain in limbo until a three-judge panel rules on his fate. After that ruling, we may finally have some finality on the Elliott saga, though it’s hard to bank on that given the back-and-forth nature of the legal process so far.

There were rumblings of a potential settlement in October, but both sides have gone on the record to say that they are not interested in meeting in the middle. The NFL does not want to set a precedent of players reducing suspensions by using the pressure of the legal system. Elliott, meanwhile, is determined to clear his name of any association with domestic violence.

Elliott, 22, has 690 yards off of 164 carries, giving him the third-highest total in the league and 4.2 yards per attempt. He’s also tied for the league lead with six rushing touchdowns.

If Elliott’s six-game suspension is put into effect after the Chiefs game, he’ll be forced to miss games against the Falcons, Eagles, Chargers, Redskins, Giants, and Raiders. He would not be eligible to return until Week 16 against the Seahawks.

Judge Katherine Failla — the same judge who on Monday dissolved Ezekiel Elliott‘s restraining order against the NFL — has denied the Cowboys running back’s request for a stay, which would have allowed him to stay on the field while his case is sorted out, according to Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).

The decision was entirely expected, and Failla indicated as such in her ruling: “For the Court to grant the NFLPA’s motion for a stay at this stage would in effect be to reverse its decision of last night,” wrote Failla, per legal analyst Daniel Wallach (Twitter link). Elliot’s motion requested an answer from Failla by 7pm Eastern, and noted he and his team would “have no choice but to seek relief from the Second Circuit,” and that’s exactly what they’ve done.

Elliott’s appeal is already on the second circuit’s docket, tweets Hairopoulos, and he’s requested an “expedited” process, per Wallach (Twitter link). Essentially, Elliott wants his appeal paused for a third time while the case plays out, reports Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Still, there’s little to no chance that Elliott will be available in Week 9, meaning the Cowboys will turn to a combination of Alfred Morris, Darren McFadden, and Rod Smith in the backfield. Dallas was reportedly considering running back additions prior to today’s trade deadline.

A judge has dissolved Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott‘s temporary restraining order, meaning his six-game suspension is now in effect once again, tweets Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News.

Elliott was granted a temporary injunction earlier this month which allowed him to stave off suspension for two more weeks. But a judge tonight indicated that Elliott had “ample opportunity” to challenge the NFL’s ban during arbitration, and also said “the proceedings in their totality accorded with the CBA and the personal conduct policy,” per Hairopoulos (Twitter links). In essence, the court decided Elliott had already exhausted his potential remedies.

An appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit would be Elliott’s next step, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, but a decision from that bench wouldn’t be expected in short order. As such, Elliott will be banned while waiting for an answer from that court (were he to send his case in that direction). However, Elliott has 24 hours to file an appeal with the Second Circuit, and his legal team will argue that his suspension should be remain lifted until the appeal is heard, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.

Elliott, of course, was issued his suspension following allegations of domestic violence. The fourth overall selection in the 2016 draft, Elliott has accused the NFL of fomenting a conspiracy against him, and the dispute has gotten ugly from all angles. Elliott and his camp have cast doubt on the consistency of his accuser’s claims and suggested her motives were profit-based, while the NFL has accused Elliott of victim-shaming.

But the situation at hand has little to do with the original accusations against Elliott, and instead is focused on the NFL’s disciplinary process and whether the league followed its own procedures. Interestingly, the Cowboys organization jumped into the legal fray earlier this month, issuing an affidavit stating the club would suffer irreparable harm if the New York didn’t issue Zeke a temporary injunction.

If Elliot is forced to serve his suspension immediately, he’ll miss games against the Chiefs, Falcons, Eagles, Chargers, Redskins, and Giants before returning to face the Raiders in mid-December. The Cowboys will use some combination of Alfred Morris, Darren McFadden, and Rod Smith for the next six weeks as they attempt to maintain their tenuous grasp on postseason contention.