Jason Witten on Zeke ending legal fight: It's up to us be in the playoff hunt when he gets back

The Cowboys now know for certain that they won't have running back Ezekiel Elliott back until the Dec. 24th game against Seattle. Elliott ended his long-running, up-and-down legal battle against his six-game suspension by the NFL on Wednesday. Before the decision, Elliott at least had a slim chance of cutting two games off his suspension after a Dec. 1 appeals hearing. 

Team captain Jason Witten on Thursday said the team wasn't distracted by the high-profile fight, but praised Elliott for how he's dealt with the saga. Elliott was suspended after the league found he used physical force against a former girlfriend on three occasions; Elliott strongly denied the findings. 

"I was really impressed with how Zeke went about it, that process," Witten said. "I know that he and his team were trying to fight for what they felt was right. And I think he went about it the right way. I respect his decision and his team's decision. I know that he's going to do everything in his power to get back and when his number gets called here in a few weeks be in the best shape and mindset he can be to help us down the stretch. And hopefully we can hold up our end and can be in the position to be in the hunt when he gets back. 

"I know it wasn't easy for him, he's a young player, a young guy to be thrown in that, out in the public eye. I really do respect how he went about it the entire time as it went back and forth. These things happen, and he'll be better because of it."

Witten has a foundation that advocates for ending domestic violence. What does he think of the league's methods for investigating and punishing players? Elliott never faced criminal charges. 

"I don't know enough about  it to fully give my opinion," Witten said. "I would just say, it's hard to live in the gray in those situations. How do you get through that and go about that process? It seems like there's a lot that I don't know. ... Just in all those cases, the time and Zeke, I don't know that anytime it's going back and forth,like that, I don't know if it's good for our game.

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