The NFL Players Association had hoped to promptly get clarity from the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit regarding the question of whether the injunction blocking Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension is, or isn’t, in effect. With the Fifth Circuit not taking action on Monday, the NFLPA needed to go elsewhere.
A motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction has been filed in the federal lawsuit that the NFL initiated after Elliott filed the initial lawsuit in Texas. The motion requests a ruling by 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The Fifth Circuit could rule in the interim that the prior injunction issued by a federal court in Texas is, or isn’t, in effect pending the exercise of Elliott’s right to appeal the Fifth Circuit’s ruling from last week. But with the clock ticking loudly, the NFLPA knew that it had to move quickly in the New York case, in the hopes of getting someone who wears a black robe for a living to tell the NFL that Elliott’s suspension can’t begin.
The Cowboys play the 49ers on Sunday. The NFL intends that game to be the first of the six games Elliott misses; the NFLPA hopes to continue to delay the suspension indefinitely, while litigation regarding the legality of the suspension proceeds.