Hearing set over Elliott’s ban
NEW YORK » A federal appeals court has set a Thursday hearing as attorneys for Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott seek a longerlasting injunction to stop his six-game suspension over domestic violence allegations.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday issued an emergency stay of the NFL’s punishment, the third legal reprieve for Elliott. It cleared last year’s league rushing leader to play in Sunday’s game against Kansas City. Elliott scored the go-ahead touchdown in the Cowboy’s 28-17 win over the Chiefs.
It is possible, if not likely, that the three-judge panel in New York will rule as early as Thursday, after oral arguments, on whether Elliott can play Sunday at Atlanta.
None of the judges assigned to Elliott’s case presided over the NFL’s winning appeal in Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension in the Deflategate case.
Lee’s return coincides with surge in Dallas D
FRISCO, TEXAS » Sean Lee wasn’t on the field for the crazy Kansas City play that threatened to ruin an otherwise strong performance from the Dallas defense.
It turned out to be a microcosm of how important the 2016 All-Pro linebacker is for the Cowboys, whose threegame winning streak coincides with Lee’s return and a dramatic improvement on his side of the ball: fewer points, more turnovers, more key stops.
“Boy, tremendous difference when Sean Lee is out there,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said after a 28-17 win over the Chiefs and their third-ranked offense. “Not to take anything away from anybody, but he makes things happen.”
Lee missed two games with a hamstring injury, and the Cowboys lost both at home despite scoring at least 30 points in each.
Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams won 35-30, followed by Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay 35-31 when Rodgers took the Packers 75 yards in 62 seconds after Dak Prescott had guided the Cowboys to the lead.
The Cowboys (5-3) have allowed averages of 15 points and 299 yards during the winning streak. They next visit Matt Ryan and NFC champion, albeit struggling, Atlanta (4-4) Sunday.
Then it’s the first of three straight home games starting against the NFC East rival Eagles and Carson Wentz, who has an NFL-best 23 touchdown passes.
O’Brien says Texans have looked at Kaepernick
HOUSTON » Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien says he and general manager Rick Smith have discussed signing Colin Kaepernick in the wake of last week’s season-ending injury to Deshaun Watson.
When asked about Kaepernick Monday, a day after Tom Savage struggled in a loss to the Colts, O’Brien said: “We talk about the roster and what’s out there every day Rick and I.”
When pressed on whether they have specifically discussed adding Kaepernick he said: “Oh yeah, everybody gets discussed.”
Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback, began the national anthem protest movement by kneeling last season.
The Cardinal O’Hara grad Savage started Houston’s season opener but was benched for Watson after a terrible first half. He moved back into the starting role this week after Watson tore an ACL Thursday. Savage looked much the same as he did in the opener and failed to move the offense for the majority of the day.
Redskins getting healthy with Vikings up next
As Rob Kelley began feeling some pain in his sprained right ankle, he thought about all the injuries his teammates were playing through.
“Everyone hurts,” Kelley said. “So what are you going to do, keep playing or keep whining?”
Kelley and Washington have played through plenty of pain in recent weeks, so banged up that they didn’t have 46 active players at Seattle. But after surviving being without fourfifths of their starting offensive line in a 17-14 victory against the Seahawks, their top priority is returning to close to full health with NFC North-leading Minnesota visiting Sunday.
Left tackle Trent Williams continues to try to tolerate pain in his knee, left guard Shawn Lauvao is improving with his stinger, center Spencer Long will test his sprained knee this week and Brandon Scherff will increase his workload as he works back from a left knee injury.