Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the NFL has taken too long in its investigation of Ezekiel Elliott. More than a year has passed since an ex girlfriend accused the star running back of domestic violence, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday he has not made a decision yet.
“These things are tough for everybody,” Jones said, via Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It’s tough for the league. It’s tough for the team. It’s tough for the player. I think, at some point, you should be able to get the information in some sort of time frame that it doesn’t carry on like this particular investigation has. So I would hope as a league, just like we do everything else, that we look for ways to get more efficient and to do things in a better way. I’m not being critical.
“These things, we’re obviously in new territory when we started our own investigative team at the NFL level. It’s not like we’ve been doing this like we’ve been playing games and things of that nature, so just as we do everything we look at ways to improve it. Hopefully we’ll be better at this as we move forward in the future.”
Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter predicted Monday that Elliott would be suspended within “the next 48 hours.” Jones dismissed the report on Fox Sports 1 as speculation.
The Cowboys continue to insist Elliott has done nothing to earn a suspension as the Columbus (Ohio) city prosecutor’s office declined to press charges against Elliott after a six-week investigation.
“Hopefully we’ll have Zeke for the full 16,” Jones said. “That’s what we’re counting on.”