The Dallas Cowboys have an exciting, yet unknown, superstar on their team in linebacker Jaylon Smith. In the 2016 NFL Draft, the Cowboys chose Smith in the second despite knowing that a foot injury would keep him sidelined for his entire rookie season. Now that he is ready to enter his second year in the NFL, Smith is ready to get out on the field and prove that the Cowboys made a good bet when they called his name last year. According to ESPN, Jaylon said that he is ready and will play whenever they tell him to go.
Smith’s injury
Jaylon Smith was a superstar linebacker for Notre Dame and chose to play in the team’s Fiesta Bowl appearance against the Ohio State Buckeyes when he injured his knee.
While many players nowadays choose to blow off their college’s bowl games to protect themselves for the future, Smith has said there was never any doubt that he would play in the Fiesta Bowl and even said that he would do it again if given the chance.
However, that Fiesta Bowl appearance cost Jaylon Smith a lot. He was a sure-fire first round NFL Draft pick before the injury. Even if the injury was a torn ACL, it wouldn’t have hurt him as much as this injury did. Jaylon suffered nerve damage when his left leg bent in an awkward position and had to be helped off the field. The Dallas Cowboys knew that Smith was very talented and took the chance on him in the second round but the nerves never came back in his rookie year, putting things off until now.
Smith returned to practice this last week
Now, over one year since the Dallas Cowboys chose him in the NFL Draft, Jaylon Smith is out on the practice field preparing for the 2017 NFL season. Smith was held out of the Cowboys Thursday night preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL Hall of Fame game. Smith has been practicing with the Cowboys and said that he has no idea when the Cowboys will let him get onto the field in game action but when they give him the green light, he will go out and play.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that Jaylon Smith is doing everything the team is asking of him, including playing without the brace on his knee. There is a case of drop foot that will probably affect him for his entire career, but Smith said he is able to do a lot more without the brace than he could when he was wearing it.
While Jaylon Smith did not play in the Cardinals preseason game, he said that he will be back on the field sometime this season for the Dallas Cowboys. That is a big deal for Smith because there were a lot of people who said he might never play football again. Smith said that he is getting his reps, and with those reps comes a comfort level. Smith said that his time is coming and when it does he will be ready to play football again.
