Cowboys Jaylon Smith: Dropfoot And 'The Greatest Deed'
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I've reported it all a 'skillion' (a Jerry Jones pet number) times:
*Jaylon Smith has dropfoot.
*There is "medical hope'' regarding the nerve in his knee firing, but there are no guarantees.
*The suggestion that he can play with a brace on his foot and ankle to supplement the feeling in the knee and stabilize the dropfoot is a theory, not a fact.
"I think the sky's the limit,'' said COO Stephen Jones on Tuesday from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. "I think he's got a great opportunity, if he keeps on his current path, to be a dominant player for us.''
But what is that "current path''? Smith, the team's second-round pick from 2016 who spent all of last year on the sidelines working and praying toward a comeback, promises there has been improvement in his "feeling'' in his knee; he told me that in early January. I wrote it … and I believe it.
But now comes out colleague Ian Rapaport noting the lack of full improvement in that "firing'' process, and some skepticism about Smith's true future.
With #Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith's nerve not firing, he'll have to play in a game with a brace for drop foot. Would likely be the 1st to do it
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2017
Stephen noted honestly, "Now to say I expect that (being a dominant player) when he's not there yet? That's tough to have that expectation. But I think we do expect him to contribute and be a big part of our defense this year."
That's lovely. But there is no established proof that a player can participate in a real NFL game with an AFO (ankle-foot orthotics) allowing the use of his foot.
Jaylon, 21, is now more of a weight-room freak that ever. He's a magnificent and faith-based person and an incredible story waiting to happen.
"It's doing great deeds,'' Jaylon told me.
But he was talking about his nerve, not his foot.
Playing pro football without a fully-fired nerve and without a fully-functional foot?
That would be among the great deeds of all.