Cowboys Injury ‘Good & Bad News’ On Tyron Smith Neck

Dallas Cowboys Injury ‘Good & Bad News’ On Tyron Smith Neck

FRISCO - Which do you want first, Dallas Cowboys fans: The “good news” about the neck issue troubling All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith? Or the “bad news” about the issue that caused him to sit out the Week 2 home-opening 40-39 win against Atlanta?

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This is a “feel-good’ Monday so let’s go with the positive first: Dallas COO Stephen Jones on Monday indicated to "K&C Masterpiece'' on 105.3 The Fan that Smith has a realistic chance to play next week at Seattle.

“He certainly has an opportunity to play this week.” Stephen said.

OK. All good, right? 

Not so fast. Here’s the “bad-news” portion of Stephen’s delivery.

“It’ll probably be another game-time-type decision,” Jones said.

Oh.

That does not clear up at all the exact nature of Tyron’s ailment, nor does locking into a “game-time” decision six days in advance of having to make that decision - an NFL rarity - sound very promising. It certainly suggests that Smith might do very little in practice this week, that the plan to chase a veteran signee like Ron Leary (still dealing with the team with COVID testing, he tells CowboysSI.com, and with Jared Veldheer no longer in play), and that the kids who held down the fort at tackle against Atlanta, UDFA rookie Terence Steele and second-year guy Brandon Knight, better get ready to do it again Sunday against the Seahawks.

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On the rare occasions when Tyron sits, the Cowboys have sometimes survived; Dallas is now 8-5 in those circumstances thanks for the miracle against the Falcons. Maybe it’ll take a miracle for Tyron Smith to get healthy in the next few days… Or maybe it won’t take a miracle at all.

"We’ll just have to see,'' said Stephen, which in the end is actually "middling news.''