Dallas Cowboys’ La’el Collins denied injunction, will serve full suspension

Dallas Cowboys right tackle La’el Collins must serve his full five-game suspension and will miss Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.

A federal judge Tuesday denied Collins’ request for an injunction to end the suspension.

U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant ruled that Collins’ suspension in the wake of an arbitrator’s decision to uphold it was based on a “reasonable construction of the parties’ agreements,” according to the Associated Press. The judge suggested in his ruling that the suspension did appear to violate the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the NFL player’s union.

Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones wasn’t expecting to La’el Collins to be available before the ruling was announced during his weekly radio show Tuesday morning.

Collins will be available to rejoin the team next week, during the team’s bye week, and available against the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 31.

In a court filing, the NFL accused Collins of bribery. The seventh-year veteran’s representatives denied the claim and argued the NFL misled the arbitrator by saying Collins had been suspended four games when he hadn’t.

Collins sued the NFL, its management council and Commissioner Roger Goodell last week.

The lawsuit said Collins was suspended when the new labor agreement signed in 2020 no longer allowed for suspensions over missed tests or positive marijuana tests. The league countered by saying Collins had a “long history of discipline for repeated violations.”

Collins, who missed the entire 2020 season with a hip injury, played in the Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The suspension was announced the next day.