Ezekiel Elliott could be “bracing for a short suspension” stemming from domestic violence accusations made in July of 2016 by his ex-girlfriend, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“I think that there’s a growing sense that he could face some sort of short suspension here in the coming weeks … once the NFL wraps up its investigation,” Schefter said on SportsCenter Friday morning.
“I believe Elliott is bracing for a short suspension,” he added, clarifying that the NFL’s investigation is not over.
Cowboys sources told WFAA Sports the team doesn't know if Elliott will be suspended, adding that the investigation has been "dragged out."
#Cowboys front office source on Zeke Elliott & poss. suspension: "We don't know what they are going to do. This thing has been dragged out." pic.twitter.com/yAspTpL9b7
— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) July 14, 2017
Mike Fisher, a Cowboys insider with 105.3 The Fan, also reported on Twitter that a Cowboys source was unaware of any upcoming suspension.
The league has never provided a timeline for the investigation into Elliott’s ex-girlfriend’s claims that he hit her on five different occasions between July 17-22 of last year.
Elliott was cleared of any criminal charges in the case in September, when the Columbus, Ohio city attorney’s office cited conflicting witness reports of the alleged assaults.
"After reviewing the totality of the evidence, the City Attorney's Office, Prosecutor Division is declining to approve criminal charges in this matter for any of the (five) alleged incidents," the City Attorney's Office wrote in a release at the time. "This is primarily due to conflicting and inconsistent information across all incidents resulting in concern regarding the sufficiency of evidence to support the filing of criminal charges."
The 21-year-old star running back spoke with NFL investigators about the case in October.
In the weeks following the allegations, Elliott said he had text messages proving he was being set up. A complaint filed in Ohio also shows texts from Elliott's ex asking a friend to tell police she was pulled out of a car.
High-ranking #Cowboys source says that Ezekiel Elliott has messages saved on his phone proving his ex-girlfriend is trying to set him up.
— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) July 22, 2016
Elliott’s off-the-field issues have included video of him pulling up a woman’s shirt during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Dallas. He was also involved in two car accidents -- one fender bender in which he was the driver and another in which he was the passenger -- the latter of which cause him to sit out the beginning of Cowboys OTAs in May.
