Cowboys Star of the Game: A Leaner Lineman
There was not a whole lot to celebrate in the Dallas Cowboys' 16-3 loss over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Thursday night's Hall of Fame Game.
However, one Cowboy's return to the field is a sign in the right direction and could be a big boost for the team this season.
Our Star of the Game goes to offensive tackle La'el Collins.
READ MORE: Steelers 16, Cowboys 3 As Dallas Offers Look at Past (Jimmy) and Future (Micah)
An honorable mention goes out to Jimmy Johnson, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame tonight and the Cowboys Ring of Honor at a later date.
Another honorable mention goes to rookie linebacker Micah Parsons, who showed some flashes of being one of the best linebackers in the near future of the NFL.
But for this week's star, the attention goes to Collins, who had not touched the playing field since the end of the 2019 season.
"It's been over a year and it's been a long process to get here,'' he said. "It felt good to be out there on that field.''
Last year, Collins dealt with a hip injury that kept him out all season. The injury Collins suffered is not an easy one to recover from.
Collins had to, in a sense, learn how to walk again - and as important as anything, learned to get more fit, as he's probably down 15 pounds from a year ago - so it's remarkable that less than a year post-surgery, he's able to play in an NFL game again.
Granted, this was only a preseason contest and he played in just a few plays for the team, but this was a victory for Collins.
The offensive line was perhaps the position group hit the hardest last season. Collins missed the whole season, while Tyron Smith missed all but two games and Zack Martin missed six games. If all of those guys can stay healthy this season, the offense is going to be cooking once again - and more O-linemen will collect more "stars of the game'' honors.
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