Cowboys Notes: Elliott, Smith

The Cowboys should suspend Ezekiel Elliott themselves, Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News opines. Under the league’s personal conduct policy, Elliott’s involvement in a Sunday night brawl could still impact a potential suspension, even if he is not found of any legal wrongdoing (after authorities “suspended” the investigation, legal consequences seem unlikely). Cowlishaw seems to think that a two-game suspension is on the way from the NFL for last year’s abuse allegations against Elliott, so he figures the Cowboys might as well get ahead of the situation while sending a stern message to the running back.

Elliott may be guilty of some poor decision making, but he has not been found guilty of any crimes since joining the Cowboys. The running back’s odds of avoiding suspension could be a lot better than Cowlishaw seems to think, and I think it would be foolish for the Cowboys to take him out of action for 1/8th of the season instead of riding things out.

More from Dallas:

• According to a recent electromyogram, the nerve in the leg of Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith is continuing to regenerate, Todd Archer of ESPN.com hears from a source. Smith will take the field with the team in training camp and there is hope of a full recovery months down the road. For his part, the Notre Dame product says he feels as good as he did pre-injury.
• The Cowboys have the seventh-best roster in the NFL, Nate Davis of USA Today writes. Davis assessed the talent of each unit of all 32 teams and gave the Cowboys a composite ranking of 12.9. Davis personally fears that Dak Prescott could be in for a sophomore slump and, apparently, the team’s departures in free agency have set them back in his mind.
• If Elliott is suspended, he’ll have to repay the team a portion of his signing bonus.