Cowboys Did NOT Call Andrew Whitworth? Injured Rookie Tyler Smith OUT vs. Seahawks

"Hello, Tyler Smith. He’ll be an important part of this puzzle, our No. 1 draft pick." - Jerry Jones.

FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys rookie Tyler Smith is ready.

But he's not.

“I was ready as soon as I walked through the door,'' Tyler said on Friday, reflecting on the news that he'll be asked to do more, and sooner, now that Tyron Smith has sustained a long-term injury. "I knew as soon as soon 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.”

That's the good news, as the Cowboys contemplate their options at left tackle.

The bad news? As "ready'' as Tyler is ... he isn’t going to play Friday against the visiting Seattle Seahawks in the NFL preseason finale because of his mild ankle injury.

Cowboys rookie Tyler Smith isn’t going to play Friday because of his ankle injury. Smith talking today about his injury and the possibility of playing left tackle pic.twitter.com/GJ7qEpzzce

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 25, 2022

So now what?

For Friday, with Tyron Smith out "for months'' after sustaining a hamstring tear at practice here at The Star, it's about too-young swing tackles late-round rookie Matt Waletzko (he's got a shoulder injury so he likely won't play) or second-year guy Josh Ball, who has not impressed.

And it's about making phone calls as the Cowboys search for real answers. The first of those was thought to have happened when Rams ex Andrew Whitworth, at age 40 having just retired, announced on national TV that there have been "calls and "texts'' regarding the Cowboys' interest in him.

Andrew Whitworth just said on TNF that the Dallas Cowboys called him.

(via @NFLonPrime) pic.twitter.com/JZvWBTUo1o

— Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) August 26, 2022

Based on those remarks, it was assumed that Whitworth was insinuating that Dallas had reached out to him.

Not what I said,'' Whitworth later cleared up with a midnight tweet. "I said I answered calls and text from people all day since the injury. Begging me to go to the cowboys! Thx''

Oh.

There is still a Cowboys wish list (see here for a Patriots trade idea) and Whitworth might still be on it. But the most immediate wish involves Tyler Smith. As owner Jerry Jones said, "It’s a big disappointment ... for Tyron himself. But ... hello Tyler Smith. He’ll be an important part of this puzzle, our No. 1 draft pick."

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