The Cowboys could have tackle La’el Collins back on the team for Sunday’s game against the Giants.
As noted by Daniel Wallach on Twitter (and as confirmed by PFT), Judge Amos L. Mazzant will hold a hearing on Friday in connection with Collins’s motion for a temporary restraining order blocking his ongoing suspension. The hearing will commence at 2:00 p.m. ET.
If Collins wins, the NFL will have little choice but to reinstate him for the Week Five game against the Giants. The avenues for securing a successful appeal before kickoff will be limited, if/when Judge Mazzant issues a TRO at or near the end of business hours on a Friday.
The league suspended Collins for five games under the substance-abuse policy. He has missed three games.
He argues that the substance-abuse policy, as revised in 2020, does not permit a suspension for missed tests. He also claims that the NFL misrepresented to the arbitrator that Collins previously served a four-game suspension, a fact the arbitrator expressly cited in upholding the suspension.
In 2017, Judge Mazzant overturned the six-game suspension imposed against Ezekiel Elliott under the personal conduct policy. An appeals court scrapped the decision, because Elliott filed his lawsuit before the NFL’s internal procedures were finalized.