Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys are acting with a sense of urgency to finalize a deal in the next 24 hours that would allow the star running back to practice Wednesday and play in Sunday's season opener against the New York Giants, sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter.

A deal between Elliott and the Cowboys does not appear to be far off, the sources told Mortensen and Schefter, but there are still issues that must be agreed upon.

Another source told ESPN's Ed Werder earlier Tuesday that the Cowboys and Elliott are working well together on the contract talks, but there's "serious work left."

ESPN also has confirmed multiple reports that Elliott is traveling to Dallas in order to be present to sign a contract Tuesday if the sides agree to a deal.

Jerry Jones indicated indicated earlier Tuesday that the sides have made some progress in their contract talks with Elliott, saying that he was "hopeful" to have the running back available to play in Sunday's season opener.

Jones, the Cowboys' owner and general manager, said his team is preparing "with the people that we have out here now" for their opener against the New York Giants but also noted that it "would be great" if Dallas could include Elliott in its Week 1 game plan.

"We'll see how today goes," Jones told 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. "We'll see how tomorrow goes. We'll see how the ensuing hours pan out."

The Cowboys on Monday signed right tackle La'el Collins to a five-year extension, which created $5.7 million in cap space for the team this season, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.