Dallas Cowboys to Place Tyler Smith on Injured Reserve After Surgery

The Dallas Cowboys will be without their best offensive lineman, guard Tyler Smith, for at least the first four games of the 2026 season.

According to head coach Brian Schottenheimer after practice on Monday, Smith is having surgery on his thumb and is expected to be placed on injured reserve.

That means Smith will miss at least the first four games of the campaign, although Schottenheimer extended his possible timeline to up to six weeks.

"Tyler Smith is going to have surgery on his thumb tomorrow morning," head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. "It something that he's just been dealing with and he'll probably go on IR, four to six weeks. At the end of the day, it just felt like he couldn't do the things that he had to do at a high level. We know that it's a long season, so it's unfortunate."

Patrik Walker of DallasCowboys.com adds that it's a ligament issue in Smith's left thumb.

Schotty said the thumb has been bothering Smith all camp long, but he doesn't know for sure when Smith suffered the injury.

"But at the end of the day, we can't pinpoint when it happened," he said. "It's just one of those deals, at the end of the day, made the decision that the best thing is to get in front of this thing."

The Cowboys hoped Smith might be able to work through the injury, which is why the team didn't have him get the procedure sooner, but it just didn't pan out.

This is obviously a brutal blow to the Cowboys' offensive line, as Smith is arguably the best guard in the NFL and one of the very best offensive linemen in the entire league.

That said, the Cowboys are in better shape than most teams would be in the same situation because of their backup situation.

Who is Tyler Smith's replacement?

Dallas Cowboys guard T.J. Bass. — Dallas Cowboys guard T.J. Bass (66) at training camp at River Ridge Playing Fields. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

That would be T.J. Bass, who has proven himself a reliable backup during his time in the NFL.

The Cowboys re-signed Bass earlier this offseason to a one-year, $5.7 million deal that is already paying huge dividends.

"That's why we coveted T.J. Bass, and having T.J. Bass back," Schottenheimer said. "I think he's played a lot of really good football for us and we expect he'll continue to do so."

A former undrafted free agent, Bass has been with the Cowboys since 2023 and has played snaps at both guard spots in that span.

In over 1,000 snaps in the NFL, Bass has given up just 16 pressures and two sacks.

In 352 snaps last season, Bass surrendered zero sacks and four pressures and posted Pro Football Focus grades of 62.9 in pass-blocking and 65.8 in run-blocking.

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