DALLAS – "He's late."
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was definitive in his assessment of Ezekiel Elliott's current status as he, head coach Jason Garrett and Stephen Jones, the team's executive vice president and CEO, addressed the media Friday afternoon for the "State of the Cowboys" address.
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"We have officially reported, so he's listed as a non-report, officially," Jones said. "All of the mechanisms in place with the collective bargaining agreements are in play, if you're not where you're contracted to be. We expect everybody that's under contract to be here at camp. They've agreed to be here."
When asked whether fines would be assessed for the running back's tardiness, Jones wouldn't explicitly confirm their use, but did say that option was available.
"The situation certainly provides for that," Jones said. "I've never made it a practice of getting into the details of how we execute our agreements or operate within our agreements, but his agreements provide fines and it's certainly doable under the CBA."
In the midst of fielding numerous questions regarding Elliott's now-confirmed holdout, Jones was emphatic in his desire to keep details of the situation private.
"The last thing we want to get into is a daily update on contracts," Jones said. "Everybody is under contract. It's a part of what goes on in football. Football is business. Every contract we have an agreement on. If there's any changes in those agreements, or anything different, that's something for both parties to decide on. Updates -- where you are, where you stand, how close you are -- all of that isn't necessary. I do want to make the point that we will not be giving updates on any of our contractual statuses with our players."
Stephen Jones echoed those sentiments in an attempt to downplay the significance of the situation. "The organization has done a great job of assembling a lot of talented young players, and with that comes expectations from the players and the agents. That's part of it. We're certainly going to work through it. We're just going to go to work and do what we can do to keep this team together."
When asked his thoughts on Elliott's holdout, Garrett chose instead to draw attention to the rest of the roster that did report to training camp on time.
"Most of our players came in on the flight last night," Garrett said. "Some of the players reported this morning. They did the weigh-in, their physicals, and did the conditioning run at 10 a.m. We will have a 2 p.m. team meeting. We're focused on the guys that are here. Zeke's been a great player and teammate. We respect him, but we're not going to get into the business of football. We're going to get into what we need to do each and every day to play our best and coach our best. This is a great opportunity for someone else to show what they can do. We've had great examples of guys emerging over the past couple years. When someone's not there, step up. Next man up. Let's see what you've got."
Training camp will officially begin Saturday afternoon with the opening ceremonies set to start at 2:30 p.m.