Drama always surrounds Dallas Cowboys and there’s plenty more again in week 9.

The Cowboys traveled to Georgia this weekend for beat the Atlanta Falcons. Once they left their facility, word broke that Ezekiel Elliott would not be traveling with the team. Initially, it looked like it would be a healthy scratch, but it was later revealed that it exists disciplinary reasons behind the movement.

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NFL reporter Jane Slater drew the curtain on the team’s reasoning Sunday morning, saying Elliot has been “distracted this season” and is habitually late. He missed the team’s third meeting of the year on Friday, which she said was the “last straw”.

There’s a lot to take from Slater, and none of them portray the team, especially Jerry Jones, in a positive light.

Jones has been a big supporter of Elliott, who he decided to bring back this offseason rather than pursue someone like Derrick Henry. Zeke rewarded Jones with the worst performance of his career. Through seven games on the season, Elliott has just 149 yards on the ground and a career-low 3.1 yards per carry.

Despite his poor performance, he had the nerve to complain about his use, prompting Jones to claim that they were “Save it“for later in the year.

What makes Jones and the culture he created look so awful is that he excused poor attendance, complaints and terrible play on the field. None of this bothered him and he continued to look away as leaving possible higher options on the bench.

Sure enough, the Cowboys finally made the right call and stopped Elliott. But if those issues, along with his lackluster play, have been ignored for eight weeks, it’s easy to see why this team plays without urgency week after week. The message all year has been that there’s no reason to fear your job as long as Jones likes you. Elliott, who has always been Jones’ favorite, is living proof.

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