Team news: Dallas Cowboys | Page 49

Cowboys training camp is underway in Oxnard. Ezekiel Elliott is still not present.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones briefly addressed the situation on Sunday night.

"You don't have to have a rushing champion to win a Super Bowl," Jones said in a one-on-one interview with CBS 11 Sports on Sunday.

Jones has previous experience in this department. In the 1992 season, Emmitt Smith became the first-ever rushing champion to be a member of a championship team as the Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII.

In Elliott's absence, Darius Jackson and rookies Tony Pollard and Mike Weber will have the opportunity to make an impression of their own in Kellen Moore's new offense during training camp.

Jones went on to say in the story: "Consequently, when we are looking at putting Zeke's contract in place, we've got to realize that the ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. So, you've got to do all of the things along with having Zeke that allow you to have other players so that you can win the Super Bowl."

Other reports today said Elliott is on his way to Mexico to train, like he did during his suspension.

Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram notes that Darius Jackson, the Cowboys' sixth-round pick in 2016, received first-team reps at practice today, while Ezekiel Elliott is holding out of training camp in search of a new contract.

Jackson has bounced around the league since 2016, also making stops in Cleveland and Green Bay before returning to Dallas. Jackson has six career carries, which all came in Week 17 of last season. Hill notes that Jackson is getting first-team reps now because he is the most experienced running back among the available players. But the team does have plans for Tony Pollard, the Cowboys' fourth-round pick out of Memphis. Pollard is expected to be the change of pace back behind Elliott, while Mike Weber is expected to challenge Jackson to be Elliott's primary backup.

NFL Network's Jane Slater tweets, "My sources tell me Ezekiel Elliott is not on the flight to LA. Again, he has until Friday am to show up at camp though. Players have chosen to fly on their own in the past."

The fact that Ezekiel Elliott isn't on the team charter is interesting because yesterday's reports had him showing up for the flight to California. Like Slater says in her tweet, Elliott could still hitch a ride to training camp by himself, so the holdout hasn't officially begun. Stay tuned for the continuing adventures.

A source familiar with the talks between Dallas and Ezekiel Elliott said Monday that the impasse hasn’t yet reached that crisis point.

The story said the Cowboys were hoping to put Elliott on the back burner for now and focus on extensions for QB Dak Prescott and WR Amari Cooper, but Elliott appears ready for his now - with two years left on his rookie deal. The story added Elliott needs to report to camp by Aug. 6, which would preserve his accrued fourth season and keep him on track for unrestricted free agency following his fifth season. Nothing is official as of yet, but Elliott at least seems to be weighing his options.

Chargers running back Melvin Gordon isn’t being coy about his intent to hold out until he gets a new deal. Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott apparently is, at least for now.

Per a league source, Elliott has privately said that he will hold out of training camp unless he gets a new contract.

As the story said, the Cowboys haven’t focused on giving Elliott a new contract, largely because they don’t have to. They have instead focused on players with more immediate paths to free agency, from defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (who has signed) to quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver Amari Cooper (who haven’t). Prescott and Cooper are due to become free agents next year. Elliott, the fourth overall draft pick in 2016, has two years remaining on his rookie deal, given that first-round selections are subject to a fifth-year option.

During a recent interview with USA Today, Dak Prescott explained why he won't be offering the Cowboys a discount on his new contract, and basically, it comes down to the fact that NFL revenues keep going up, which means the salary cap keeps going up, which means the Cowboys can afford to pay him market price.

"For somebody to say you can only take so much because of the salary cap or you can only do this or that, I don't know how fair that is to say," Prescott said. "Because with gambling, with everything going into this league, everything is going to continue to keep going up."

Prescott is headed into the final year of his rookie deal. Through the first three years of his career, Prescott only made a total of $1.62 million, so you can see why he wants to be paid at market price, the story said. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Prescott's camp "broached" a price point of $34 million per year, which is likely what their client will get.

After meeting with Roger Goodell on Tuesday, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo believes Ezekiel Elliott's apology to the league and Goodell has stemmed the tide of a short suspension. At the moment there is no official word from the league, so there is still a chance Elliott could see discipline, but that would be more surprising than no suspension at this point.

Elliott is on extremely thin ice with the league, but if this report proves true, his fantasy stock remains firmly in the Top-5 in both PPR and standard fantasy leagues. In dynasty leagues, managers should be more wary, as any slip up could knock him off the field for an extended period.

After meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday to discuss an incident from May that didn't involve an arrest but did involve handcuffs, Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott released a statement to apologize for what he called a "poor decision."

It's still not known if Elliott will face a suspension.

"I need to work harder to ensure I do not put myself in compromised situations in the future. I am rededicating myself to use all of the resources that the league has made available. But in the end, it is up to me and I am determined not to be in this position again," he said.

In a video, Elliott appeared to push an even staffer into a guardrail that toppled over. Elliott was handcuffed but not arrested. He could still face discipline from the NFL.

Running back Ezekiel Elliott will meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in New York on Tuesday to discuss a May incident in Las Vegas, according to a source.

Archer went on to say Elliott was briefly detained by police, however a player can be subject to penalty under the personal conduct policy without an arrest. Keep in mind Elliott was suspended six games in 2017 under the personal-conduct policy, stemming from an alleged incident in 2016 involving a former girlfriend in Columbus, Ohio, but he was not arrested or charged by police.

Jerry Jones confirmed the Cowboys have added former quarterback Jon Kitna to their staff. The team, though, has not made any decisions about who will call plays or what titles Kitna and Kellen Moore will carry next season.

“We’re still in the throes of evaluation,” Jones said, via David Helman of the team website. “We’re in no hurry.”

With Kitna on board, the Cowboys likely won’t hire anyone else outside the organization, the story said. Garrett could return to being the play-caller. Jones said Garrett’s involvement in the offense “could be more or less.” Garrett called the plays in 2011 and 2012, his first two full seasons as head coach, before turning it over to Bill Callahan. Scott Linehan replaced Callahan as the play-caller in 2014, but the Cowboys fired Linehan as offensive coordinator last week, the story continued.