SNF pregame clip shows Ezekiel Elliott battling mysterious injury before kickoff

Dallas Cowboys fans have waited patiently all day for the team to go to battle against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football. That patience is being tested some more as the game is currently in a weather delay "until further notice" per Acrisure Stadium officials.

The stormy conditions will present a challenge for the Cowboys for when it is deemed save enough to play, but they might have to navigate another obstacle. During the delay, NBC's Football Night in America showed Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott getting ready in the locker room.

While Prescott was listening to music, Elliott was seen with a bandage over his right shoulder. The veteran running back was in obvious discomfort and couldn't even put his shoulder pad on. He grabbed the shoulder after failing to put the pad over his head. You can watch the clip behind this link.

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott battling mysterious injury before SNF clash vs. Steelers

That does not look good for Elliott. The two-time rushing champ popped up on the injury report Thursday, but only for dehydration. There was no mention of a shoulder injury. He was a limited participant but practiced in full on Friday and was off the injury report entirely by Saturday.

It is possible that Elliott is just nursing some soreness, but he was audibly uncomfortable while attempting to put his pads on. Did the injury, for lack of a better term, occur while Zeke suited up? Maybe he felt a pull or twinge as he lifted the pads over his shoulder?

This is obviously all conjecture. Elliott could be fine. There has not been any mention by Cowboys reporters that Elliott is battling an injury. Failing to report an injury is a violation of the NFL rulebook and Dallas historically has a clean track record when it comes to reporting injuries.

This could end up being a non-story, but assuming the video makes the rounds on social media, reporters will likely ask about Elliott's mystery injury after the game.

Whatever Elliott is dealing with, the Cowboys must continue to lean on Rico Dowdle against the Steelers. Dowdle has emerged as the team's lead running back over the last two weeks. Elliott only saw two carries before halftime in last Thursday's win over the Giants.

Elliott might get more carries due to the sloppy weather conditions, but Dallas might be better off turning to Hunter Luepke since the grizzled vet clearly isn't 100%.

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