Cowboys O-Line Injury Update: Tyron & La'el

A day at The Star in Frisco offered a nasty flashback in the injury department

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys remember what the 2020 NFL season looked like with its primo collection of offensive linemen dealing with a variety of problems.

Friday at The Star in Frisco offered a nasty flashback.

Right tackle La’el Collins was forced to exit the practice session with an apparent stinger. This after an incident a few days ago when he left the workout with a neck and shoulder problem that was deemed not serious ... and all of this after a 2020 season that he missed completely as he was dealing with a hip problem that eventually required surgery.

Collins hasn't played in a regular-season game since 2019. The Cowboys would like to fix that in two weeks, when the NFL opens with Dallas at Tampa on Thursday, Sept. 9.

Tyron Smith, meanwhile, has apparently been taken down by a flu bug that is going around the locker room at The Star. He missed the workout (as did linebacker Leighton Vander Esch). Smith, the future Hall of Famer, of course missed the final 14 games of 2020 with a neck injury that required surgery.

Smith's problem isn't serious. Hopefully Collins' isn't, either. And of course neither of these cases are issues this week, as the Cowboys on Sunday play host to the Jacksonville Jaguars at AT&T Stadium in the final NFL preseason game for both teams.

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But after Sunday? The Cowboys have quarterback Dak Prescott returning to full practice after last year's ankle surgery and this summer's shoulder surgery. They are working through COVID issues, but hopefully those won't destabilize the roster. And they view themselves as a contender.

Like every other good team, though, they'll need good health. For one day at The Star, in the offensive line at least, they didn't quite have it.

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