Cowboys' Jaylon Smith - A Medical Risk But 'Never Doubt God'

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IRVING (105.3 THE FAN) - Maybe the Dallas Cowboys have inside information on their side. Or maybe linebacker Jaylon Smith has divine intervention on his side.

"Absolutely,'' the Cowboys' second-round pick out of Notre Dame said Friday night in a conference call with DFW media when asked about playing in 2016. "Never doubt God."

If the first-round selection of running back Ezekiel Elliott is "win-now,'' one could term the Smith pick as "win-whenever.'' Smith sustained a serious knee injury during his final game in the Fiesta Bowl. The nerve damage is so devastating that a man who would've been a top-10 pick if healthy couldn't be sure how far he'd tumble (I'd mocked him to Dallas but in the sixth round).

"It's just a timing thing for the nerve,'' Smith insisted. "It's too early in the process to tell. … We have to be patient and you know the nerve can come back tomorrow. It's just a timing thing. Whenever it wants to come back, it'll come back."

Smith has more than God on his side. Dr. Dan Cooper is the specialist who performed the repair of Smith's knee … and Dr. Cooper is also a Cowboys team doctor.

"It definitely helped when their team doctor does the surgery,'' said Smith, who recently conceded he might need a "redshirt year'' and in fact might need more than that. "I'm very thankful.''

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