Tag: 2021 season week 17

Cowboys activate Malik Hooker, Trysten Hill off COVID list; sign new LB to practice squad

Wednesday also saw Tyron Smith at practice, Noah Brown’s 21-day return window open, and JaQuan Hardy and Brandon Smith return from COVID. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Wednesday saw multiple developments on the Cowboys roster, with several notable players being upgraded as the team prepares to host Arizona on Sunday afternoon. It’s a game the Cowboys need to win to maintain hope of earning the NFC’s No. 1 seed entering the postseason.

Safety Malik Hooker and defensive tackle Trysten Hill were activated off the Reserve/COVID list; both took part in practice Wednesday. Hooker was placed on the list Dec. 23; Hill had been in protocol since Dec. 18.

Left tackle Tyron Smith participated in individual drills, lending further credence to Stephen Jones’s prediction to a Dallas radio station on Monday that he would make his return in Week 17 after sitting out the past two games with an ankle injury.

Running back JaQuan Hardy and wide receiver Brandon Smith have been taken off the Practice Squad/COVID list and are back on the practice squad.

Wide receiver Noah Brown has been designated for return from a groin injury; he’ll begin his 21-day observation window and can be moved to the active roster within that time.

The Cowboys have added linebacker Devante Bond to the practice squad. That signing comes after losing Francis Bernard to a groin injury against Washington and then the COVID watchlist the next day. Bond is just the team’s fifth healthy linebacker, behind Micah Parsons, Leighton Vander Esch, Keanu Neal, and Luke Gifford.

Bond was a sixth-round draft pick by the Buccaneers in 2016 out of Oklahoma. He logged 36 tackles over three-plus seasons in Tampa in a tenure that included injuries and a suspension, then was released partway into the 2019 campaign. Chicago signed Bond in late 2019; he bounced on and off their practice squad until January 2021.

Bond practiced Wednesday and wore No. 51.

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Cowboys’ Stephen Jones: ‘Very optimistic’ Tyron Smith will return vs Arizona

Smith has missed 5 starts this season with an ankle injury, but could be ready to return as the Cowboys try to claim the NFC’s No. 1 seed. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith has missed the team’s past two games with an ankle injury. His absence wasn’t a factor in Week 16’s 56-14 drubbing of Washington, with the Cowboys able to move the ball practically at will against the Football Team, but the veteran who was just named to his eighth Pro Bowler will be a critical component to the team’s postseason success.

And it looks like they may get him back for Week 17’s clash with the Arizona Cardinals as they look to stay alive in the race for the NFC’s top playoff seed.

Speaking on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones was encouraged about No. 77’s imminent return to action.

“The great news is [we] feel it’s very optimistic that Tyron’s going to be back against the Cardinals,” Jones told the K&C Masterpiece show.

Smith missed three earlier games- Weeks 9 through 11- with what was referred to then by many around the team, including owner Jerry Jones, as bone spurs. The injury was later classified as an ankle sprain. He returned to make the next three starts, but then left Dallas’s Week 14 game versus Washington early. He’s been working his way back since, but has not been cleared for game play yet.

Smith remains one of the most dominant forces in the league when healthy. But after missing all but the first two games of 2020 and having not played a full regular-season slate since 2015, there have been concerns about the lineman, who turned 31 earlier this month.

“Certainly his injury this year that he’s been fighting, with his ankle, has nothing to do with past injuries,” Jones continued in his radio interview. “It’s a part of the game, these injuries. And sometimes you go on a run where you’re fortunate and you’re able to play consecutive games consecutive seasons. And other times, it just seems to bite you. But right now we’re so fired up that Tyron’s going to be back against Arizona. He brings so much to the table in terms of solidifying that left side, giving Dak confidence to step up in the pocket and make the throws that he needs to make. And to have him back is going to really be a great addition back with this offensive line that I think can only help improve us.”

Terence Steele has started the past two games in place of Smith. In Sunday’s rematch versus Washington, he caught his first pass for his first score on a tackle-eligible play.

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