Latest in Cowboys drama: Ezekiel Elliott heads back to Cabo after Jerry Jones' joke

Senior writer

Mon, Aug 19, 2019, 11:05 PM

While Dallas Cowboys fans and certain fantasy football players are stressing over when Ezekiel Elliott will finally report, the rest of us are getting quite the show.

The soap opera got crazier on Monday. Jerry Jones made a “Zeke who?” joke after Dallas’ second preseason game, in which rookie Tony Pollard played well. On Monday, Elliott’s agent went on the record to say Elliott did not appreciate the joke.

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Then a little later on Monday, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star Telegraph reported that an unhappy Elliott has headed back to Cabo San Lucas, where he was training early in his holdout.

Ezekiel Elliott flies to Cabo again

Elliott came back from Cabo last week, Hill had previously reported.

It’s possible he already had a return flight for Monday. Hill didn’t specify if Elliott headed back over the hurt feelings over Jones’ joke, and had previously said he planned to go back to Cabo as he held out.

Still, the optics matter a bit. Jones made a joke that Elliott found disrespectful. Elliott’s agent made it clear that he and Elliott weren’t thrilled. Then Elliott got on a plane to Cabo.

It doesn’t seem the ice is thawing, and there’s not that much time left before the season starts.

Elliott holdout ‘could get interesting’

In Hill’s report on Monday, he confirmed ESPN’s report that Elliott wasn’t happy with the remark and “things could get interesting in the next few days.” Hmmm.

The joke seemed to be harmless, and Jones backtracked immediately. Any other time, no big deal. But tensions are high as Elliott holds out, looking for a new contract.

We have seen other instances in which situations seem untenable, only to have a positive conclusion once contract terms are agreed upon. Even in Dallas, it seemed Dez Bryant would never be happy in Dallas again after the team gave him the franchise tag a few years ago ... until Bryant got a long-term extension. Everyone smiled at the press conference. That could happen again with Elliott.

But for now, tensions seem to be even higher and Elliott is headed back to Mexico.