ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The legal briefs are for others to worry about, but the Denver Broncos will plan for Sunday's matchup with Dallas Cowboys as if running back Ezekiel Elliott will be every bit as busy against Denver as he was against the New York Giants in Week 1.

"Teams are going to use their best players, and we have to approach like they're going to have their best players," said Broncos linebacker Von Miller.

The NFL had announced a six-game suspension for Elliott on Aug. 11 for a violation of the league's personal conduct policy -- a former girlfriend accused Elliott of domestic violence on separate occasions in July 2016. He was not charged criminally, but that isn't a benchmark for NFL discipline.

However, U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant blocked the suspension last week. The NFL has appealed the decision, so Elliott may still serve the suspension. Even though the league has asked the appeals court for an expedited decision on Mazzant's ruling, Elliott is expected to be on the field against the Broncos.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday during his weekly appearance on a Dallas radio station that he expects Elliott to play against the Broncos. Jones did not say whether he expects Elliott to play beyond Week 2.

Broncos coach Vance Joseph was asked Tuesday -- hours after the Broncos' season-opening 24-21 win over the Los Angeles Chargers -- if uncertainty over Elliott's availability would impact how the Broncos prepare.

"It does not," Joseph said. "He's a part of their football team. We watched the tape from last week; he's out there, so that's who we're preparing for."

The tape from the Cowboys' win over the Giants showed Elliott was on the field for 60 of 74 snaps on offense. Alfred Morris, the only other Dallas running back to appear in the game, had just eight snaps. The Cowboys also played two fullbacks in the game for a total of four plays.

Elliott had 24 of the team's 31 carries against the Giants; Morris had four, and quarterback Dak Prescott ran three times. Those 24 carries were more than Elliott had in all but three games last season -- when he romped to 1,631 rushing yards and won the league's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.

Run defense was a weakness last season for the Broncos, who finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010. It was a big part of the offseason emphasis for Joseph and first-year defensive coordinator Joe Woods.

The Broncos also invested some money, signing nose tackle Domata Peko and nose tackle/defensive end Zach Kerr in free agency. The early returns were good for the Broncos as they held a Los Angeles Chargers team intent on running the ball Monday night to 64 yards on 22 attempts -- an average of just 2.9 yards per carry.

Twenty-one of those yards came on Melvin Gordon's first carry of the game, but he managed just 33 more yards on 17 attempts the rest of the night.

Peko, in his 12th season, played just under half of the defensive snaps (27 of 59 overall), so the question will be how the Broncos stay stout up front against the Cowboys when he's not in the lineup.

What if the Cowboys go to a three-wide receiver look and the Broncos answer with their package of six defensive backs? In that scenario, Broncos safety Will Parks is near the line of scrimmage, essentially as a weakside linebacker. The Broncos stymied the Chargers' run game in that look, for the most part.

Gordon had a 5-yard run and Branden Oliver had a 6-yard run against the lighter formation, but the Broncos consistently prevented the Chargers from spreading things out and pounding away. Elliott's size-speed combination, however, is a different task entirely.

"I feel like they brought me here to stop the run," Peko has said. "It's important, we know that. Every week that's always going to be important, week after week, great back after great back. You have to enjoy the challenge of that."