NFL teams
Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer 7y

Ezekiel Elliott plays, will miss upcoming practices to ready appeal

NFL, Dallas Cowboys

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott played 10 snaps in Saturday night's preseason game against the Oakland Raiders, and now the club has to wonder if it will see him in action again before Oct. 29.

Elliott was replaced by Darren McFadden on the second drive. He finished with 18 yards on six carries in his first -- and only -- work of the preseason and caught two passes for 6 yards.

Elliott has not talked to reporters during camp and declined to comment after the game.

"He's practiced and performed in the classroom as well as on the field as though he was going to take every snap this year,'' owner and general manager Jerry Jones said after the game. "I thought it was good, and I'm glad we got that kind of work in for him."

He is facing a six-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy for an alleged domestic violence incident involving a former girlfriend in Columbus, Ohio, in July 2016. Elliott will miss practices on Monday and Tuesday to get ready for his appeal in New York with arbitrator Harold Henderson.

On Friday, Henderson denied the NFL Players Association's request to make Tiffany Thompson available and make the notes of the league's investigators and the Columbus authorities available. The Cowboys will not make any filing on Elliott's behalf prior to the hearing, but they will have a representative in attendance.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones has withheld comment regarding Elliott's suspension, however, sources indicate he is upset. Prior to the announcement of the suspension, Jones said he anticipated Elliott being available for the regular season, and from what he had known, the incident had nothing to do with domestic violence.

The league said it had "persuasive" evidence that Elliott committed physical force against Thompson even if the legal authorities chose not to press charges. The personal conduct policy requires a lesser burden of proof in determining whether a player faces league discipline.

Following the hearing, final briefs from both sides are due to Henderson by Sept. 1. Final roster cuts come a day later, and it is possible the Elliott hearing will not be resolved.

If the suspension is upheld or even reduced, the Cowboys will go with McFadden, Rod Smith and Alfred Morris at tailback in Elliott's absence.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.

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