The Dallas Cowboys’ offensive line suffered a major setback as guard Rob Jones will miss up to three months with a broken bone in his neck.

Jones, who joined the Cowboys in March on a one-year, $3.75 million deal, sustained the injury late during Sunday’s training camp session in Oxnard, California, according to Adam Schefter.

Further MRI testing and examinations confirmed the fracture, but surgery will not be required in order for the injury to heal, as reported by ESPN.

A significant offseason addition, Jones had been competing for the starting spot at right guard, challenging rookie first-round pick Tyler Booker just days before the injury.

Booker had seen most of the first-team reps through the opening portion of training camp, but Jones took over with starters on Saturday, making the competition for the position one of the camp’s focal points.

Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said on Sunday before practice that Jones had been “doing some really, really good things,” indicating that there was a potential competition for the starting spot along the offensive line.

“Tyler’s kind of hitting that mark where he’s a little bit like, ‘Whoa.’ Doing some good things, but doing some things that weren’t to the standard. So what do you do? You make a change. Is it permanent? I don’t know. I think Tyler’s going to be back out there with the ones. But you don’t stand up here and have the central theme of your program be, ‘Compete every day,’ and if a guy’s performing well and not reward him,” he explained, per ESPN.

This loss marks a major blow to the Cowboys’ interior line depth, which was already under the microscope following the retirement of veteran Zack Martin, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.

Jones appeared in 17 games at left guard last season for the Miami Dolphins and entered this camp with 49 career appearances and 30 starts since joining the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2021

With Jones sidelined until at least mid-to-late October, the Cowboys will look to Booker, along with depth players T.J. Bass, Saahdiq Charles, and Brock Hoffman, to fill the void at right guard.

An official announcement from the Cowboys did not address whether Jones will be placed on injured reserve to start the season, but his rehab timeline means he will almost certainly miss all of preseason and potentially the entire first half of the regular season.