Elliott shows how important he is to Cowboys
LANDOVER, Md. – The hearing looms large over Ezekiel Elliott, the difference between being able to play the rest of the season or being banished for six weeks.
But the stakes are no less significant for the Dallas Cowboys. Already on the outside looking in when it comes to the NFC wild-card race, losing their star running back might very well doom their playoff hopes.
“Zeke is critical,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “You can see he’s a valued member — member is almost trite to say. We need him.”
As Elliott headed to New York for Monday afternoon’s hearing in federal court, he left the Cowboys with a stark reminder of just how much he’d be missed if his absence turns into an extended one. On a sloppy, rainy afternoon when Dak Prescott couldn’t get anything going, Elliott finished with two touchdowns and 150 yards rushing — more than half of Dallas’ overall yardage — averaging more than 4.5 yards on his 33 carries in a 33-19 victory over NFC East rival Washington.
“(Elliott) was outstanding today — and he had to be,” coach Jason Garrett said. “We’re at our best when we run the football, and we really needed to run it and run it a lot and run it well, particularly in the second half, when the weather got even worse.
“He just did a really good job controlling the game for us.”
He’s powerless to control what happens now.
After an investigation that lasted more than a year, Elliott was suspended in August for six games for abusing his ex-girlfriend on three occasions. He’s denied the allegations — he was never charged, though the prosecutor in Columbus, Ohio, said he believed the woman — and has vigorously appealed the suspension. On Oct. 17, he was granted a temporary restraining order because the federal judge assigned to his case, Kathleen Polk Failla, was out of town. Now Failla is back, and she’ll hear arguments. If she grants his request for an injunction, odds are good he’ll be able to play for the rest of the season. If not, he’ll be suspended immediately and wouldn’t be able to return until Dec. 17.
While Elliott said he has confidence in Dallas’ other running backs — Alfred Morris, Darren McFadden and Rod Smith — they’re not Elliott. Not even close.
Prescott is a special quarterback, and he can do a lot of damage if his offensive line continues to play as well as it did Sunday. But what makes the Cowboys so potent is the combination of Prescott’s arm and Elliott’s bruising runs.
Expecting one to carry the entire team is a tall order. Probably too tall.
“It’s really out of my hands,” Elliott said. “Just trust my legal team, trust they’re going to do their job and make sure I’m on the field next week.”
As Elliott awaits his fate, it’s the Cowboys’ season that hangs in the balance, too.