Even as the Cowboys explore the possibility of signing veteran tackle Jason Peters, they plan to roll with rookie Tyler Smith at left tackle, due to the knee injury recently suffered by veteran mainstay Tyron Smith. Appearing on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, owner/G.M. Jerry Jones addressed the realities of plugging in a first-rounder who previously had been working at guard.
After saying earlier in the week that it’s “safe to say” Tyler Smith will get the job, Jones recognized that it won’t be easy, for the rookie or for the team.
“Well, I think Tyler is going to get his man,” Jones said. “What’s that mean? He’s going to get his man, and I think he’s going to do a good job of it. Is he not going to get him all the time? Yes. We need to have somebody there to help him out, we need to keep some out, to cut some out of the offense, you need to cut it out a little bit and help him out. But I think he’ll get his man, I think he will get better. I think that’s the nature of the position and football.
“He’s got everything we hoped and more when we drafted him. That’s exactly what we drafted him for, to come in and be the left tackle. So he had a really outstanding camp, all of the things are there. Do I wish we had Tyron? Yes. Will we get Tyron back? Likely. But in the meantime he’s going to come in and he’s going to get a Harvard doctorate degree at playing left tackle between now and then. Will we pay some price for it? Yes. Can we win with him paying a price? I think so, yes.”
There’s only one way to find out. In nine days, it’s Tampa at Dallas on Sunday Night Football to get the season started. Tyler Smith will either get his man enough times to let Dak Prescott run the offense, or he won’t.