Tyron Smith’s return to the Dallas Cowboys may wind up being only temporary. The offensive tackle reinjured his left ankle in yesterday’s win over the Washington Football Team and will have further testing today to determine the severity.
Smith missed three games from Weeks 9-12, two of which were losses for Dallas, dealing with the initial ankle sprain. He was forced to leave yesterday’s contest after getting his leg caught under teammate Connor McGovern.
Tyron Smith’s ankle will be re-evaluated when he gets back to DFW.
Tyron seemed to be in good spirits walking back to the locker room, but there’s your injury situation to monitor heading into next week.
— David Helman (@davidhelman_) December 12, 2021
Cowboys LT Tyron Smith injured the same ankle Sunday that forced him to miss three games earlier this season. Further testing is scheduled for Monday in Dallas area. https://t.co/B8Ma9SxgRR
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) December 13, 2021
Not long after Tyron’s exit, Dallas’ other starting OT La’el Collins was ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct. This left the Cowboys in the unwelcome position of having both Terence Steele and Ty Nsekhe in at the tackle spots.
The Cowboys had two 3-and-outs and a pick-six once both Smith and Collins were gone. They managed a first down on their final drive to seal the victory, but the stagnant offense beforehand allowed Washington to make things interesting.
Collins should not face any further punishment from the league after a minor scuffle, given he was already booted from the game. Even if Tyron’s ankle keeps him out next week, Dallas will hopefully not be down to two backups as starters.
Further consolation; next week the Cowboys get an easier draw with the New York Giants. If there’s a game left on the schedule where they can afford to be without Smith, this is the one.
Hopefully it won’t come to that and Tyron Smith will resume his duties in Week 15 and the rest of the season. We’ll see what today’s tests reveal about his status going forward.