Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 150 yards Sunday, the third-best performance of his career. Now will a judge do what Washington couldn’t do?
The star running back headed to New York after the Cowboys’ victory to meet with his legal team before a Monday hearing in front of Judge Katherine Polk Failla. It is expected either his six-game suspension begins next week or the legal battle is pushed into the offseason depending on the judge’s decision on the preliminary injunction.
“We’re confident,’' Elliott said, via David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. “We’re confident in our argument. “We’re confident that I’ll be on the field for the rest of the year.’'
He’s shown the Cowboys how much he means. Elliott has three consecutive 100-yard games, averaging 124.5 the past four games, and the Cowboys have averaged 196.5 rushing yards the past four.
Dallas faces a crucial three-game stretch against Kansas City, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
“It’s really out of my hands,’' Elliott said. “There’s nothing really more I can control, just trust my legal team, trust that they’re going to do their job, and make sure I’m on the field next week.’
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones continued his support of Elliott, saying the star player has done nothing to warrant a suspension. The domestic abuse allegation by a former girlfriend lacked enough evidence for the Columbus (Ohio) city prosecutor’s office to pursue charges, but the NFL still suspended Elliott after an investigation that lasted more than a year.
“What is important is that he gets a fair shake,’' Jones said. “Zeke has in no way, by any standard in this country, done anything wrong. He’s done nothing wrong.
“The league has tried to say that he’s done something that we disagree with. We all don’t agree with that. We don’t have the system in place for this and we’re trying to make one up in a few short months and it’s got too many ways to not be fair to a person like Zeke.’'