Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is still awaiting a decision on the appeal of his six-game suspension, and team owner Jerry Jones is expecting to hear something positive about the situation before long.
In his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan Tuesday, Jones at first expressed reluctance to comment on Elliott’s pending case.
“I don’t want to make the comment, and I know y’all can imagine with all that we have flying around the courtrooms and the basic hearing rooms,” he said, as transcribed by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “That would be one I’d pass on this morning.”
But did Jones then give a hint about the outcome of the appeal? While he didn’t elaborate, he said he expects to have positive news to pass along at some point this week.
“I’ll have good news for you as we get into the week,” Jones said.
The belief thus far has been that if Elliott has a chance at seeing the suspension vacated, it will be in a courtroom. With the NFL having said it found “credible evidence” that Elliott is guilty of domestic violence, it seems likely that arbitrator Harold Henderson will uphold the six-game suspension. Of course, Elliott could then seek an injunction that would allow him to play while his case is passed through the court system.
Elliot was never charged with domestic violence, and Jones expressed concern over the NFL coming up with a different conclusion than the criminal justice system.
“Two years ago or a year and a half ago Zeke wouldn’t even be involved with the issue of domestic violence as far as the NFL’s concerned,” he said. “And so just think about that one. When you get into definitions, I don’t want to in any way look like to go light on the gravity of the situation and the victim, but we all can see that trying to figure out victims in these ‘he said, she said’ things are tough.”
The NFL is already being ripped once again for its mishandling of a sensitive situation. That said, any predictions from Jones should be taken with a grain of salt. We all remember how confident he was before Elliott was suspended.
