From @ToddBrock24f7: Dallas was down to a 3rd-string LT in Week 8 after Tyron Smith was held out and Chuma Edoga got hurt. But the team is optimistic for Sunday.
It’s been said that, apart from quarterback, left tackle is the most important position on a football team. You can scheme your way around almost any other deficiency in the lineup, but if you want to have success, you’d better have an answer at left tackle.
Coming off a dominating 43-20 win and looking ahead at a massive divisional showdown, though, the Cowboys have far more questions than answers at Tyron Smith’s usual spot.
The eight-time Pro Bowler was in street clothes for Sunday’s game versus the Rams after suffering a neck stinger earlier in the week. Despite trending toward making the start, Smith found himself a very late scratch for the second time this season.
“Actually, we all thought Tyron was going to go, until the last second. Probably the better part of valor was to not play him today,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told the media at AT&T Stadium following the team’s 43-20 win.
Just as in the Week 3 switcheroo that saw Smith even named a team captain before being declared out during pregame warmups, the 32-year-old seemed ready to take the field right up until the last moment.
“Tyron was suited up- I mean, he was one of the first guys here today,” Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters in his postgame press conference “So he was ready to go. But going through the examination, the medical staff decided that he was not ready.”
Backup Chuma Edoga got the start instead and got off to a very rocky start, letting L.A. defensive end Michael Hoecht blow past him to sack Dak Prescott on the first play from scrimmage.
But Edoga himself was injured late in the game and had to be carted off the field. Early indications are that he has a low ankle sprain; he may not miss much time- if any at all- though the results of further testing will likely lend clarity.
That left fifth-round rookie Asim Richards to come on in relief in the fourth quarter, and it leaves the Cowboys with a good bit of uncertainty as they prepare to face Philadelphia’s ferocious defense.
Still, Jones says he is not inclined to rush to work a deal for a left tackle before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
“Thank goodness we’ve got some good depth. We’ve been developing depth,” Jones said. “I feel good about our offensive line. Everybody in the league is looking for starting offensive linemen. Everybody.”
“If you really look at our team right now, the biggest need is depth on the offensive line. Really. More so than anyplace else,” Jones continued before getting more specific.
“Starting kind of depth.”
So for Dallas, the real answer may simply be to trust that Smith will have himself ready to play- for real- in Week 9.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones echoed that on 105.3 The Fan Monday: “[H]opefully he’ll be ready to go against the Eagles.”
But the inconvenient truth is this: at this point in the oft-injured lineman’s career, Smith has come to be viewed as practically a gametime decision every single week.
“You have to,” McCarthy admitted. “We’re fortunate to have veterans that are long in the tooth that have played a lot of football for us at a high level. You do have to recognize that, especially when you when get to this point in the season.”
Smith will have several more days to recuperate, with Mondays used for film study instead of practice, Tuesdays off, and Wednesdays set aside for a handful of Cowboys veterans as a rest day.
“Even if he wasn’t injured,” McCarthy explained, “he wouldn’t be practicing on Wednesday again.”
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It was a knee injury suffered in practice that held Smith out of Weeks 3 and 4. Now his latest neck stinger- also sustained in practice- has cost him another game, even if it was out of an abundance of caution.
“[If it had been the] Super Bowl, might have been a different story,” Jones suggested. “We didn’t want him to get another stinger out there on top of what he’s had. He’ll work through this as he always has.”
And the Cowboys will explore contingency plans at left tackle, just as they always have.
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