At the Cowboys’ annual kickoff luncheon Wednesday, Jerry Jones addressed the elephant in the room. Or running back not in the room as it were.
The Cowboys owner didn’t mention Ezekiel Elliott by name, but he didn’t have to. Everyone knew who Jones was referring to when he said, “We’re missing one, but we’ll have him on the field. I’m not joking.”
The question is: When?
Jones told the media afterward that the Cowboys have not had “any movement at all” in Elliott’s contract talks and have no planned talks in the next day or so.
“The same way we look at any player [who’s out], we’ll get ready for the Giants [without Elliott],” Jones said. “If he’s not there for the Giants, and comes in the next or the next or the next or we’ll use him in the playoffs.”
The Cowboys remain hopeful of getting an extension completed with Elliott before the season opener. But they’ve also reached the point where, 11 days before the Giants come to town, they have to plan on not having their star running back.
“We’re always confident we’re going to get something done,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “We’re going to exhaust all resources to try to do it. I know Zeke wants to be here. I know his guys want to try to figure something out. Those things, you just never know until it’s done. We’ll just keep working at it.”