Mazi Smith ruled out vs. Raiders, did not travel with Cowboys after allergic reaction

After staying back Friday night, Mazi Smith will not travel with the Cowboys to Las Vegas for Saturday night’s preseason game against the Raiders. He suffered an allergic reaction on Friday and the franchise said it would have an update on his status ahead of kickoff.

“Mazi Smith continues to recover from an allergic reaction experienced yesterday afternoon in Oxnard and will not travel to Las Vegas today for the Cowboys vs. Raiders game tonight,” the Cowboys said in a statement.

Smith’s status came into question when Dallas announced he suffered an allergic reaction at training camp on Friday. He received treatment and had to stay back as the rest of the team headed to Vegas. It turns out he’ll miss the second preseason game of the year, which kicks off at 10 p.m. ET, as a result.

Update on DT Mazi Smith from the #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/1nhBH5zCgY

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 17, 2024

Smith is preparing for his second NFL season after the Cowboys selected him in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Michigan. He appeared in 17 games last season, including three starts, and totaled 13 tackles and a sack during that time.

As for what’s next for Smith’s development in Dallas, new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer has a plan. He’s going to move from the 3-technique position and play more of the blocks in the new scheme.

“He lost a lot of weight when he got here,” Zimmer said. “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.”

As for how Smith can bounce back from his quiet rookie season, Zimmer said it starts with his stance. From there, it’s about putting everything together to get his production back to what it was at Michigan.

“Obviously, he was a high draft pick,” Zimmer said. “I heard that he kinda struggled last year, so we’re gonna start with the basics: get him in a good stance, get him using his hands the right way, getting his footwork the right way and then go from there.

“I talked to him yesterday and asked him what weight he felt comfortable at, so we’ve gotta get him to that point first and then get his strength back, and then we’ll let him go out here on the field. We anticipate he’s gonna be a good player like he was in college, and that’s how we have to go.”