Jaylon Smith Not Improving

Back in May, The Dallas Cowboys took a chance on ILB Jaylon Smith, who has nerve damage in his knee after tearing it up in the Fiesta Bowl back in January. I originally thought the Cowboys got over on the rest of the NFL because the team’s doctor did the surgery on Smith’s knee.

Any inside information is helpful and had to have something to do with why the Cowboys took Smith in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. But now, it seems that I was wrong as ESPN’s Ed Werder tweeted that Smith’s knee was not making any “significant improvement.”

So it doesn’t look very much like Smith will make it unto the field during the 2016 season. In a radio interview Tuesday morning on KRLD-FM, as transcribed by The Dallas Morning News, owner Jerry Jones sounded like he wasn’t at all surprised by Smith’s condition.

He said, “His progress is really undetermined. But that was to be expected. He is not off plan at all. The rejuvenation of the nerve that would help him get in position to actually hit the playing field is not complete, but it is not behind. It was to be expected. Our doctors are not dismayed at all.

“I’m not. It’s the type of thing that could really come around. And if it comes around, then we’ll take advantage of it. And he’s such an impact player that we would try to get him on the field. In the meantime, he’s doing many things that would let you use the word progress.”

Jones said that Smith could be back for the playoffs, but also said that he’ll likely miss the entire season. So while we know that one day, Smith will be a part of a very strong linebacking corps in Dallas, we don’t know when. But unfortunately, it will likely be some time after 2016.