Cowboys defensive tackle Mazi Smith leaves practice with athletic trainer
Wednesday has not been good for Dallas Cowboys defensive tackles. Head coach Mike McCarthy announced Jordan Phillips would be put on Injured Reserve after just two weeks, meaning he will miss at least the next four games. Not too long after, once on the practice field, an injury occurred to Mazi Smith.
No specifics regarding the injury are known at the time of publishing. Smith was seen walking off with the Cowboys’ head athletic trainer. Not what Dallas needed just a few days before the Week 3 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.
“Cowboys DT Mazi Smith is leaving practice with head athletic trainer Dr. Jim Maurer,” Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said via X. “This comes after the Cowboys had to put fellow defensive tackle Jordan Phillips on the injured reserve list this morning with a wrist injury.”
Smith is a former first-round pick of the Cowboys and was entering a critical year in his development. Underwhelming as a rookie, Smith was expected to have a bigger role under defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. But two games have resulted in just 56 snaps played and zero statistics recorded.
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“He lost a lot of weight when he got here,” Zimmer said before the season. “He was trying to be an attacking 3-technique to get up the field. We’re gonna probably play blocks a little bit more, and try not to get reached so linebackers know where they’re supposed to fit — so forth and so on. That’s the biggest thing. … Yeah, it’s what he did in college.”
Now, there might be an injury for Smith to work through early in the season. An injury report should be released later Wednesday, likely giving more information and the status of Smith moving forward.
Dallas is fresh off a game where the defense got whipped on multiple levels. Saints running back Alvin Kamara, in particular, feasted with 115 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. The New Orleans team as a whole averaged 4.9 yards per carry in a truly dominant performance.
Baltimore comes to AT&T Stadium with a 0-2 record but still top 10 in the NFL in rushing yards. Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson could be getting big eyes heading into the matchup, especially as the former might have a point to prove after this offseason. The Cowboys having a few injuries pile up certainly will not help come Sunday afternoon.