Tyron Smith has taken an important step closer to his return from a nasty preseason hamstring injury, though he’s still several weeks away from making his 2022 debut.
The eight-time Pro Bowler was seen working on resistance cords with Britt Brown, the Cowboys’ director of rehabilitation, on Thursday. He’s not yet been activated to officially practice with the team, but the development shows good progress in that direction for the veteran, who will turn 32 next month.
Just before the start of the season, Smith suffered an avulsion fracture of the knee. That means the hamstring tendon that sits at the back of the knee was ripped off the bone. Early reports suggested that he might be available for a December return, a timeline that now seems to be playing out as accurate.
Tyron Smith on the cords has he comes back from surgery on his torn hamstring. Smith’s practice window likely to open in another three weeks. pic.twitter.com/xLa6alQYtx
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) November 10, 2022
Once the Cowboys open Smith’s practice window, they’ll have 21 days to move him to the active roster, but, as ESPN’s Todd Archer points out, it seems unlikely that would happen until after Thanksgiving, given the abnormal practice schedule surrounding the holiday.
The team has no real need to rush the former first-round pick back, as rookie Tyler Smith has played very well at left tackle. It’s not known how the return of the elder Smith will impact the assignments along the offensive line, but the younger Smith had spent most of training camp at left guard- alongside Tyron- before his injury.
And the Cowboys are adding even more depth at the position. On Wednesday, they signed two extra tackles to the practice squad.
George Moore is an undrafted rookie who was in training camp with the Packers before being one of the team’s early cuts. A six-foot-six-inch 312-pounder out of Oregon, Moore was a two-year starter for the Ducks and saw plenty of practice reps in Eugene against the Giants’ fifth overall pick this year, Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Alex Taylor is a raw prospect out of South Carolina State with intriguing physical measurables. He stands nearly six-foot-nine and has a massive arm length of over 36 inches. PFF’s Marcus Mosher points out that, since 1990, only 16 offensive lineman in the league have had that kind of wingspan, and three of them are currently on the Cowboys’ payroll: Taylor, the injured rookie Matt Waletzko… and Tyron Smith.
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