Cowboys scold Ezekiel Elliott after RB 'leaks' Thanksgiving helmet they revealed 4 months ago

There might be a crossed stream or two in the Dallas Cowboys marketing department, or maybe the team just enjoys a little chaos in its social media feeds.

An odd Wednesday began when Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott posted an apparent throwback helmet onto his Instagram story with no explanation.

Reading between the lines wasn't hard. The helmet was clearly going to be something the Cowboys were going to wear (likely on Thanksgiving), and because Elliott was the only one posting it at the time, he had probably leaked it, to the dismay of the Cowboys' marketing team.

That social media blip and ready-made narrative of Elliott leaking something he shouldn't have was fun enough to get some coverage and chatter, with headlines like "Ezekiel Elliott leaks Cowboys’ helmets for Thanksgiving game" and "Ezekiel Elliott unveils Cowboys' Turkey day helmets ... blows team's big surprise!?!" 

The Cowboys apparently confirmed the leak when they quote tweeted an NFL media partner with a "C'mon bruhhhh..." message directed at their running back.

But here's where things get a little weird. The team had already revealed the helmets. With great fanfare.

Back in July, the team sent out a press released revealing they planned to wear the throwback helmets for Thanksgiving with an attached photo, while posting a video showing off the headwear to their social media feed. A lot of people tweeted about this helmet.

So ... what is this? Did the Cowboys forget they had already revealed the helmet (which almost certainly didn't happen)? Did they decide a viral marketing campaign was doable even if the helmet was already out there? Or did Elliott post a picture of a helmet and a media ecosystem thirsty for Cowboys content go with the best narrative available, at which time the team just rolled with it?

It's probably the last one. But that doesn't make this much less weird.

In non-helmet news, Elliott is currently recovering from a knee sprain that caused him to miss last week's 49-29 win over the Chicago Bears. In Elliott's absence, Tony Pollard broke out with 131 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries plus 16 receiving yards, making Elliott's recovery during their bye week all the more intriguing.