Cowboys receive odd injury update on Tyler Smith
During the Dallas Cowboys' controversial win over the Detroit Lions in Week 17, left guard Tyler Smith suffered an injury that knocked him out of the game. He was ruled as questionable with a foot injury but remained out as rookie T.J. Bass finished out the game for him. Smith, in his second-year in the […]
During the Dallas Cowboys' controversial win over the Detroit Lions in Week 17, left guard Tyler Smith suffered an injury that knocked him out of the game.
He was ruled as questionable with a foot injury but remained out as rookie T.J. Bass finished out the game for him. Smith, in his second-year in the NFL, seems to have avoided a worst case scenario, according to the latest news.
Ian Rapoport from NFL Network reported Smith "finally completely tore the plantar fascia in his foot last night (…) which sounds bad – but is actually good."
For non-medical practitioners like me, it most certainly sounds like a scary injury at first. And there's definitely odd aspects of the injury update, but we'll get to that. The main takeaway here should be that Rapoport's report indicates that Smith will be fine long-term and that "this can provide immediate relief for a player."
But let's get to the rarities of the report. Mainly, the phrasing "finally completely tore the plantar fascia" strongly suggests Smith has been playing banged up this season with a foot injury. It sure sounds like that was an issue and perhaps could lead to better health once he recovers from the complete tear.
ESPN's Todd Archer added in a follow-up report that Smith is better off dealing with a complete tear as opposed to a partial tear, which explains Rapoport's "which is good" choice of words. Archer added that Smith thought he could've finished out the game.
Smith's status moving forward remains to be seen but chances are the Cowboys put him in bubble wrap for Week 18 to have him right for the NFL playoffs, which are only a couple of weeks away.
Tyler Smith has been a key member of the 2023 Cowboys as he's held his own against some of the league's best interior defenders in both the running and passing game, to the point that he's a legit All-Pro candidate entering the final week of the regular season.
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