Jaylon Smith, The Brace, And The Cowboys Timetable

FRISCO - (105.3 THE FAN) - Jaylon Smith's regenerating nerve finally has itself a public timetable.

105.3 The Fan sources have confirmed the NFL.com story noting that Smith, the Cowboys' promising linebacker hoping to debut in 2017 with a reconstructed knee, a dropfoot condition and an advanced ankle brace, is expected to experience full nerve regeneration in "six to nine months.''

That doesn't mean Smith might not play before that; we'll know more about that when training camp commences in Oxnard next week.

It also might be viewed as less-than-positive to anyone in Cowboys Nation who was hoping the Notre Dame All-America might be ready in six to nine weeks — an optimism fed by the Cowboys themselves, who talked last winter about possibly activating Smith for the playoffs.

The "six to nine months'' would seem to slow some of that optimism, and maybe the Cowboys are whispering about this timeline with a purpose: To lower expectations.

The team is also talking about the brace that essentially serves as an "artificial ankle'' designed to make up for the dropfoot. The spin suggests that there is no much advancement that the new brace isn't an AFO ("ankle-foot orthoses'') at all but something far more effective than that.

The fact: The Richie Brace is an advancement, and may indeed help Smith perform on the field (until he time, hopefully, when the nerve is fully regenerated, at which point the dropfoot will go away, and the brace will not be required). But according to its inventor, Dr. Doug Richie, The Richie Brace IS an AFO.

We still don't know that Jaylon Smith can be a part-time/early-down player, or whether he can be a player at all. But we now have accurate information on the brace … and we have, for the first time, a real Cowboys medical timetable on the hopes.

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