From the moment that Tyron Smith, the Dallas Cowboys veteran left tackle, went down with a hamstring injury, questions have swirled as to what the team would do to replace him.
According to Jerry Jones on his weekly appearance with The Fan 105.3 on Tuesday, “it is safe to say” that first-round pick Tyler Smith is the most likely candidate to fill the vacancy.
“We’ve got to get him out here and get him practiced here over the next couple of weeks relative to any issue he had with a little high ankle (sprain),” Jones said. “But we don’t think that’s serious enough to limit his preparation.
“Now, what is the case is he hasn’t been there at left tackle. He is a rookie. But he’s a first-round pick, and he deserved to be a first-round pick in my mind. And so we knew – we just didn’t want it to come any earlier than needed – but we knew we had to get ready to replace our left tackle, and he was the pick.”
When Tyron Smith has been in the lineup, he has been one of the most dominant left tackles in the NFL. Over the last several seasons, Smith has struggled through several injuries that have caused him to miss significant time. A neck injury kept him off the field for nearly all of 2020, and an ankle injury in 2021 sidelined the player for five games.
The injury suffered by Tyron Smith occurred during practice, and it is at least the third time in his career that he missed game time due to practice field injuries. The most recent injury is described as an avulsion fracture of the knee, an injury that happens when a tendon or ligament pulls free from the bone, taking the attaching point of the bone with it.
Smith underwent surgery last week, and team brass remains hopeful that he will be able to return to the field this season.
Tyler Smith is dealing with his own injury, a high-ankle sprain the Cowboys have downplayed as “not serious.” He was held out of practice and did not play in the final preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks but has been “given the green light,” according to Vice President Stephen Jones.
“I knew as soon as I put my name on that piece of paper I would be held to a certain standard; I would be required to give certain parts of myself to it,” Smith told ESPN prior to the final preseason game. “I’m ready for whatever comes ahead, and we’re going to approach it day by day.”
Tyler Smith was drafted in the first round, 24th overall, out of Tulsa, where he played tackle. The Cowboys had initially viewed left guard as the rookie’s landing spot, which is the role he played throughout much of training camp. With the injury to Tyron Smith, the rookie will get a chance to show his skills right out of the gate.
Smith is one of several local players the Cowboys have brought onto the roster in recent years. Growing up in Fort Worth, Smith was a three-star recruit. At Tulsa, Smith was named first team All American Athletic Conference (AAC) following the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. He was selected to the second team AAC in 2021 before electing to forego his remaining college eligibility to enter the 2022 NFL draft.
The Dallas Cowboys open the season with a home contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 11.
