Team news: Dallas Cowboys | Page 61

Big news: #Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott is withdrawing his appeal, his agents Rocky Arceneaux and Frank Salzano tell me. Elliott will serve his full 6-game suspension.

Related players: Alfred Morris, Rod Smith, Darren McFadden

He will return on December 24th, a.k.a. Week 16. Owners who look good for the playoffs should hold onto him for a possible start. In the meantime, it looks like Alfred Morris and Rod Smith will split the work in the Dallas backfield.

According to Helman's tweet, the trio of Morris, McFadden, and Smith will all be involved in the Cowboys' run game in the absence of the suspended Ezekiel Elliott. However, there is no specific breakdown of how the workload will be split between the three.

We kind of expected this, as there has been talk of all three backs being involved in the run game. We most likely won't get any clarity on the situation until we see the Cowboys play a game without Elliott, but look to Morris to handle early-down work, while McFadden is involved in passing downs. Smith is the wildcard here.

We have Morris ranked the highest of the three Cowboys backs this week (No. 17 RB in standard leagues, No. 25 RB in PPR leagues).

Wallach, a gaming and sports attorney, said Elliott's emergency motion has been denied, which means his six-game suspension is back on.

Michael McCann added: Ezekiel Elliott's suspension is back on--for now. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit sides with NFL & denies Elliott an injunction pending appeal. But Elliott's appeal will be heard on an expedited basis, so he might have another ruling before the six-game suspension games ends.

Related players: Alfred Morris, Darren McFadden, Rod Smith

Amy Dash of CBS Sports also tweeted that an appellate court will hear the case "on an expedited basis." As of now, Elliott would begin his suspension this week and would be ineligible to play in Dallas' Week 10 contest versus the Atlanta Falcons. If he serves all six weeks of the suspension, he's eligible to return in Week 16.

Until we hear otherwise, Alfred Morris, Rod Smith and Darren McFadden look to split the workload in a great matchup for RBs against the Falcons.

UPDATE: We now have a date for the expedited appeal: December 1.

The next step in the ongoing legal fight that has the NFL on one side and Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott and the NFL Players Association on the other side is a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on the motion for an injunction of Elliott’s suspension pending the appeal of a district court ruling denying such an injunction.

Judge Susan Carney of the Second Circuit issued an administrative stay of Elliott’s suspension last Friday, which left Elliott free to play in Sunday’s win over the Chiefs pending the resolution of the motion. Before the court rules on that motion, they will hear oral arguments on Thursday.

As noted by lawyer Daniel Wallach, the court added those arguments to their calendar for 2 p.m. ET on Thursday. The three-judge panel that will hear the arguments has not been announced and the timing of the arguments means that they should rule on the motion ahead of next weekend’s trip to Atlanta to face the Falcons.

If the motion is denied, Elliott’s suspension would go into effect and remain in effect unless he wins his appeal of the district court’s decision. If it is granted, he will be able to keep playing until at least the ruling on the appeal of the district court’s denial of the injunction, the story said.

According to a tweet sent by Adam Schefter, the Second Circuit Court granted Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott a request for an administrative stay, paving the way for him to play this week versus the Kansas City Chiefs. The stay is effective only for Week 9, likely to give the court more time to review the case.

Ian Rapoport: "2nd circuit court’s ruling is not on the merits of the Ezekiel Elliott argument. It puts him on the field until a 3-judge panel decides his fate."

Our rankings guru John Paulsen has updated his Week 9 rankings to reflect the news and has slotted Elliott in as his No. 1 ranked RB in standard leagues and No. 3 ranked RB in PPR leagues. Owners who picked up Alfred Morris with the intent of playing him for the next six weeks should hold onto him if possible. We should know the fate of Elliott's suspension sometime next week, but the situation remains fluid.

NFL Network reporter Jane Slater said a source confirmed that Alfred Morris will start in place of Ezekiel Elliott this week.

With Elliott set to serve his six-game suspension this week, the Cowboys will turn to Alfred Morris to replace him. With Darren McFadden and Rod Smith also in the mix, we most likely won't have a clear idea of how the RB snaps will play out until the Cowboys take the field. For Week 9, we currently have Morris ranked as our highest Cowboys RB in standard leagues, while McFadden ranks ahead of him PPR leagues.