Dallas Cowboys: Teammates upbeat about Zeke's return

The Dallas Cowboys know star running back Ezekiel Elliott is eligible to play against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Beyond that is anybody’s guess in his ongoing legal fight with the NFL.

But his teammates are happy to see him in the fold for the time being.

“It’s great to have him back,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “Any chance we get with him in the backfield we’re going to take it. It’s an exciting week. We’ll just take it one week at a time and that’s kind of been the focus and I guess you can say the mindset of this team. If he’s playing, we’re obviously happy to have him and we’re going to take it one week at a time.”

Added right guard Zack Martin: “It’s great to have him. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but as long as he’s here, we’re happy about that. He’s a huge asset to our team.”

Elliott has been a focal point of the offense. He ranks sixth in the league with 393 rushing yards on 105 carries, and has two rushing touchdowns.

The Cowboys’ rushing attack appeared to hit its stride in the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers earlier this month. Elliott had 31 yards on 16 carries in the first three quarters before going off for 85 yards on 13 carries in the fourth quarter.

“We got it going there a little bit,” Martin said. “Listen, we broke it down in the off week and kind of tried to figure out some things we can fix and I think we focus on that moving forward. We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing. We’ve just got to execute as a whole group.”

For as much positive as Elliott and the offense have shown, though, the suspension is still a looming possibility.

As Prescott said, “It’s going to be unfortunate when the suspension comes, or however that plays out, but he’s definitely getting better each and every week,” Prescott said. “The benefit of having him out there is big.”

How much longer remains the question.

Elliott was granted a temporary restraining order by a New York judge on Tuesday evening, forcing the league to remove him from the reserve/suspended list.

The NFL wants to enforce its six-game suspension against Elliott for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, stemming from a July 2016 domestic violence allegation against Elliott, as soon as possible. The hearing for an injunction is set to be heard on or before Oct. 30.

But the Cowboys are taking it as a weekly approach until told otherwise. This is a team that is used to dealing with distractions.

“There’s a lot of attention around us and this team,” Martin said. “I think we do a really good job of handling that.”

Said coach Jason Garrett: “For us it’s really been status quo. Control what we can control and that’s been our approach all along. We think Zeke’s done an excellent job of focusing on what he needs to do. We certainly try to do that as a football team. So nothing’s really changed from our perspective.”

Niners on anthem

The San Francisco 49ers are the team where players protesting during the national anthem began a year ago.

Former quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the protests to raise awareness for police brutality against people of color and social injustices. A few of his teammates joined him and have continued kneeling during the national anthem this season.

About 20 players took a knee during the anthem when the 49ers played at Indianapolis earlier this month, prompting vice president Mike Pence to bolt the game early. That moment led to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones saying he would bench players who protested during the national anthem.

The Cowboys face the 49ers in the Bay Area this weekend, and the protests will remain a storyline. But first-year San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said they haven’t been a distraction for his team.

“No, it hasn’t at all to tell you the truth,” Shanahan said in a conference call with DFW media. “It’s something that we really haven’t had to talk about very much. I know it became a bigger deal a few weeks ago when more guys did it. I haven’t heard our players talk about it around the building. It’s something that to me is talked about more outside the building.”

Shanahan also reiterated the 49ers stance that they will not object to players using their platform during the national anthem to protest.

“Our organization is going to support people’s rights and that’s what people choose to do,” Shanahan said. “Our stance is that we’re not going to tell them differently. I like to talk to our guys and figure out what they’re thinking. When you do, you do learn a lot about it and you can understand. But it definitely isn’t my job or anyone else’s to tell them what to do.”

Healthy Cowboys

The Cowboys benefited from the bye week in terms of getting guys healthy.

Linebacker Sean Lee (hamstring) was a full participant Wednesday. Lee has missed the past two games. So was right tackle La’el Collins, who is dealing with an ankle injury.

The only players who didn’t practice were left tackle Tyron Smith (back) and defensive back Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring).

Smith has managed a back injury since training camp and has played in every game. Awuzie, meanwhile, has played in three games and has left two (Week 2 at Denver and Week 5 vs. Green Bay) early after aggravating a lingering hamstring injury.