New York Daily News

Elliott is happy to run free

- BY KEVIN ARMSTRONG

ARLINGTON, Tex. — Fresh off winning his injunction in court, tailback Ezekiel Elliott injected the Cowboys with a necessary dose of rushing power Sunday night.

Once his work was done, he expressed “relief” and attempted to put his looming suspension due to domestic violence allegation­s behind him.

“I can’t let it weigh on me and wear me down,” he said. “I have to put it aside and be me.”

Elliott commenced his second season just as he conducted the first, carrying the ball 24 times for 104 yards on the ground in the Cowboys’ 19-3 victory over the Giants. He added a 30yard catch and run that ended with him electing to stay in bounds to gain a few more yards and issue a reminder that he was the rookie of the year before commission­er Roger Goodell issued a six-game suspension for Elliott’s alleged acts of domestic violence. To celebrate first downs, he motioned as if scooping food into his mouth as his signature display.

“You gotta block it out and focus on being the guy you can be for this team,” Elliott said.

Elliott picked up 30 yards on a third-and-3 with less than 10 minutes left. He caught the ball on a short dumpoff from Dak Prescott and plowed ahead.

“When he was in there, he looked really impressive,” Dallas owner Jerry Jones said. “When anyone else was in there, it didn’t look impressive.”

Goodell had suspended Elliott for six games on Aug. 11. After a year-long investigat­ion into domestic violence accusation­s, the NFL found that Elliott had violated the league’s conduct policy.

On Friday, federal judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas granted Elliott an injunction, blocking his six-game suspension for the duration of the lawsuit.

“I think every person that was part of the Cowboys was uplifted by the decision,” Jones said.

Dallas fans roared when Elliott was first featured on the jumbotron during warmups.

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