Dallas Cowboys receive injury update on All-Pro offensive lineman

The Dallas Cowboys received an update Monday on the status of their All-Pro offensive lineman after an injury suffered against the Washington Football Team. Tyron Smith injured his ankle after a teammate fell on top of it, and he has already been ruled out of their next game against the New York Giants.

Mike McCarthy said he doesn’t think Tyron Smith will need surgery to correct his ankle issue https://t.co/W5c5Zq58Qo

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 13, 2021

Cowboys injury update for key lineman

The injury Smith suffered during their game against Washington was immediately severe enough to take him out of the game. Cowboys fans hoped that pulling him from the game was a preventative measure as the Cowboys were up by a large margin at that point of the game.

However, Smith could be seen limping into the locker room after the game and was clearly bothered by his ankle. On Monday, the team’s examination already ruled Smith out for their next game. While it certainly indicates that the ankle injury is a major concern as he doesn’t even attempt to practice this week, there was optimism over the amount of time he would miss.

“Mike McCarthy said he doesn’t think Tyron Smith will need surgery to correct his ankle issue,” explained The Athletic’s Jon Machota on Smith’s future this season.

Had surgery been necessary it would have been the end of Smith’s season and left the Cowboys with another hole to plug on their embattled offensive line. Without surgery, the Cowboys are leaving open the door for his return before the playoffs. With a 9-4 record on the season and a three-game lead over their division, the Cowboys are nearly ready to secure their playoff position and begin resting key players for the postseason.

Cowboys linemen struggle to stay on field

Although not forced out of the game with an injury, the Cowboys also lost La’el Collins during Sunday’s game as well from an ejection.

As quarterback Dak Prescott threw the football while running out of bounds, a Washington defender shoved Prescott very close to the sideline and sent Prescott to the ground. Collins rushed over, upset with the play, and eventually threw a punch during the altercation that got him ejected from the game.

“It wasn’t really the late hit for me,” Collins said of the play that led to his ejection. “I felt it was more so, I felt like he was rolling towards Dak’s leg. It was uncalled for. I’m just here to protect my quarterback at all costs, and that’s the bottom line.

“You don’t take cheap shots on guys. We don’t play that type of game. We just line it up and go out there and play ball. We don’t play dirty, we don’t do none of that. At the end of the day, we’re not going to take no bullshit.”

The play itself wasn’t as dangerous as hits can be in the NFL, but with Prescott’s previous leg injury it makes sense to see Collins pay extra attention to anyone near his ankles. Given the nature of the Dallas and Washington rivalry, tensions were running high for both sides as the NFC East division will likely be decided by the winner of their two meetings to end the season.