BREAKING: Cowboys Tyron Smith To Undergo Season-Ending Neck Surgery
FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith will undergo season-ending surgery on his neck, coach Mike McCarthy announced Friday morning.
McCarthy said the procedure is a "correctable surgery that Tyron needs to have done."
Smith was weighing his medical options as of Thursday after he suffered a setback with his neck injury. He missed two games before returning to play in Sunday's loss to Cleveland.
When joining 105.3 The Fan on Friday morning, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Smith was having a nerve issue in his neck that was causing a stinger issue.
"Tyron has done any and everything he possibly can do to play,'' Jones said. "The facts are, he’s a 10-year veteran. Surgery at this time is important for the rest of his career.”
Youngsters Terence Steele and Brandon Knight are available to fill in at the tackle spots for Smith and La'el Collins, who was previously placed on IR with a hip injury and is also done for the year. Veteran Jordan Mills was recently signed, and Cam Erving can come back from injury soon. Additionally, the Cowboys could take their best O-lineman, the All-Pro right guard Zack Martin, and shift him to the all-important left tackle spot.
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"We have a lot of options,'' Jones said. "We have a lot of guys that are truly gonna have to step up. They're gonna have to play above what we expected of them this year.''
The 1-3 Cowboys on Sunday play host to the winless New York Giants at AT&T Stadium. That will offer the first "step-up'' opportunity for players left contending for offensive line snaps. But the likelihood that they'll "step up'' to anywhere near the level of Smith, or for that matter Collins, is non-existent.
