DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - The Dallas Cowboys will turn to undrafted free agent Terence Steele to start in place of suspended right tackle La'el Collins.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed the decision during his appearance with Shan and RJ Tuesday morning on 105.3 The Fan.
"The plan is to go with Steele and he'll do a good job," Jones said. "He's a young guy that we're proud of. He really had a great rookie year last year, relatively speaking. He'll do a good job out there. We'll give him lots of help."
Collins' representation is still fighting the five-game suspension their client received last week for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.
Jones described the situation as "very convoluted" and that the appeals process had yet to reach commissioner Roger Goodell, but he did confirm that the 28-year-old will not play this weekend vs the Chargers.
"There's not a process here. He's suspended as we speak. He won't play Sunday. The process doesn't have a length to it at all. As of right now, he's living with the adjudication of five games."
Steele, in his second season out of Texas Tech, started 14 games in 2020 at right tackle after Collins was forced to miss the entire season with a hip injury that required surgery last fall.
All-Pro guard Zack Martin started the other two games at right tackle last season, but Jones said the team didn't want to move him back to tackle as it would have created multiple changes to the offensive line.
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"I think we feel like our offense is just best served with him at right guard. … He'll (Martin) be very helpful (to Steele)," Jones said. "Really, you're reluctant because when you make a move, you talk about position flex in the offensive line, but when you make a move you're dealing with two people at different positions rather than just one new one in there."
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