Cowboys owner Jerry Jones found out that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the NFL on Thursday when they ordered the injunction blocking running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension be vacated.
The ruling found that the NFLPA’s filing was premature because it came before the NFL’s arbitration process had run its course, leaving the district court without “subject matter jurisdiction” as a result. The ruling put Elliott’s suspension in place immediately, but Jones didn’t sound like he was resigned to life with Alfred Morris and Darren McFadden in the backfield during a Friday appearance on 105.3 The Fan,
“This was a setback yesterday. There’s still more to come,” Jones said.
Jones has long maintained that he doesn’t think Elliott should have been suspended, something he repeated on Friday by saying he doesn’t feel “the suspension was done in a fair way.” The way the suspension was done had nothing to do with the ruling on Thursday, something the NFLPA pointed out, and any attempt to address that aspect will also have to address why it isn’t allowed under the collectively bargained disciplinary system.
The NFL won that fight in the Tom Brady suspension and they’re confident of getting the same result even as Elliott and the Cowboys hope things go the other way.