Tyron Smith is set to make his season debut this weekend, and he might play in a spot he hasn’t been in for a while.
Smith is in line to play Sunday when the Cowboys visit the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 32-year-old has been out all season with a knee injury he sustained in training camp, with rookie Tyler Smith occupying his spot at left tackle.
It was always assumed that Tyler Smith was just keeping the seat warm until Tyron Smith was ready. However, during Thursday’s practice Tyler Smith stayed put, with Tyron Smith spotted at right tackle in place of Terence Steele, who sustained a season-ending ACL and MCL injury this past Sunday.
Despite not playing right tackle since his rookie season in 2011, Tyron Smith impressed in the role, a hugely positive development for a Cowboys team that has needed to try a variety of combinations on the line this season.
Mike McCarthy said Friday on “Shan and RJ” that as many as five offensive line combinations could be used Sunday.
“As far as the offensive line, I think the most important thing is we’ve really got to play, especially this week, to our practice reps and the rotations that we’ve been working on,” McCarthy said. “We’ve been preparing for Tyron to come back, but obviously we didn’t anticipate Terrance’s injury. So, I wanted to see yesterday, after going back through it I think we had five different combinations with our offensive line.
“You like to end up with five and go, but that’s just not where we are right now. So you’ll see different combinations throughout the game.”
It’s a selfless move for Tyron Smith, a likely Hall of Famer, to make a position change in favor of a rookie. But if it’s what best sets the Cowboys up for success, it appears he is totally on board.
Tyron is the ultimate team guy,” McCarthy said. “Tyron just wants to win. He’s at that point in his career and he’s all about winning”
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