DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - The Cowboys are in the midst of a playoff push, and they are the healthiest they've been all season. But they are still missing one key piece - starting left tackle Tyron Smith.
105.3 The Fan's Bryan Broaddus reported on Monday that Dallas will likely be without Smith for this Sunday's game against Washington. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones may not be ready to completely rule him out, but he's feeling positive about the former All-Pro's prognosis for the rest of the season and the playoffs.
"I'm very optimistic (about) Tyron. I don't know about this week, but I certainly don't rule it out at all. For the longer haul, I'm very optimistic," Jones said on Shan and RJ.
The Cowboys are knocking on the door of the NFC East title and a playoff berth, so it would make a lot of sense to rest Smith to give him more time to heal up for the stretch run.
"There's no one more incrementally valuable to us than Tyron Smith. He makes a very huge, significant difference in how we execute in the offensive line," said Jones.
The Cowboys ruled immediately ruled Smith out for last Sunday's win over the Giants at the beginning of the week, but McCarthy wasn't ready to do that during his visit with the media to begin this week.
"I don't know. It's too early. We'll see what he does in the Wednesday work," McCarthy said Monday afternoon at The Star, laughing with the reporters. "I don't know that I have a declaration for you. I know you were excited about getting it early last week. I can't give it to you this week."
Smith has been managing an ankle injury for several weeks of the season. The Cowboys went 1-2 in the three games he missed in November (Denver, Atlanta, Kansas City). He was able to return for the next three games but had his ankle rolled up on again at Washington two weeks ago, forcing him to miss last week's win over the Giants.
The Cowboys turned to a rotation of Ty Nsekhe and Terence Steele at left tackle and will continue to do so for as long as Smith remains out.
"I liked it. It was something we talked about during the course of the week and I think it's something that was beneficial for both guys," McCarthy said. "I think Terence was 40-plus reps and I think Ty came in at about 28. I liked the way it worked out and I thought it was a good changeup for the other side to deal with. I think it was good to play both of those guys."
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