The speculation is over. Ezekiel Elliott did not report to Cowboys camp in Oxnard on time.
Dallas owner Jerry Jones held his state of the team address on Friday, "He is uh, uh, he is uh, he's not ... he is late. We have officially reported," Jones said. "He is a non-report officially."
The holdout is on. But I told you last week on NBC 5 a club source told me Zeke was not showing up. Our source was correct.
Jones told the media the Cowboys organization can fine their Pro Bowl running back for not reporting to Oxnard, California.
The NFL's leading rusher wants a new deal despite having two years remaining on his contract.
While fans may be upset, the Cowboys are not stressing out about Elliott missing the start of training camp.
"Wasn't necessarily expected, you know, we'll move forward. Work on it. Optimistic we can make this all come together," Cowboys COO Stephen Jones calmly said. "It usually works out. We'll see if that is the case this year."
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Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick addressed the media when the Cowboys arrived to the team hotel Thursday and voiced support for Elliott, "This game is a business and everybody has to treat it as such," he said.
"I certainly hold no hard feelings to anybody that's trying to do that and get the business done and protect themselves and their family," Frederick said.
This is good. The Cowboys players need to get Zeke's back.
I saw how the Steelers became a distracted team as their top running back Le'Veon Bell held out of training camp and eventually refused to play for the team over his contract situation last season.
Pittsburgh missed the playoffs.
Jerry Jones put on a face of confidence and wanted fans to know they were not caught by surprise are not alarmed by their most import offensive player not reporting, "He's not here," the Hall of Famer said.
"The last thing we want to do is get into a daily update on contracts. Everybody's under contract. It's a part of what goes on in football. Football is business."
So now, it is Day One of the Zeke holdout. The Cowboys first practice is Saturday.
