Jerry Jones Hopes For 'Reward' On Tyron Smith Knee News
FRISCO (105.3 THE FAN) - Tyron Smith was moving careful on Sunday night after the win at Oakland, but without a cast or crutches. That gave the Dallas Cowboys some level of hope that the All-Pro left tackle might be healthy enough to play in the must-win Christmas Eve visit from the Seahawks.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones added another level of hope on Tuesday, telling 105.3 The Fan Shan & RJ show that Dallas feels "rewarded'' by the Monday MRI results.
"We're rewarded that the MRI and the X-rays didn't show as severe damage as it certainly might have," Jones said. "He'll be looking forward trying to get back.''
Jones, of course, almost always takes a glass-is-half-full angle when commenting on issues like this. Here inside The Star, there is genuine concern that Smith won't be available for the game, which marks the re-debut of Ezekiel Elliott and a circumstance that requires Dallas to win if it wishes to keep its playoff dream alive.
If Smith cannot go, veteran Byron Bell would be his replacement, as was the case in the second half of Sunday's win at the Raiders. But Smith does have a well-earned "football warrior'' reputation, having played recent seasons with a back issue that often keeps him from practicing on Wednesdays but rarely sidelines him come Sundays.
And the magnitude of the game is in play here, too.
"He knows we're down to these last two ball games,'' Jones said. "So we'll be taking a look at it."