Dallas Cowboys 2022 preseason round-up: Tyron Smith, Michael Gallup…
Dallas left tackle Tyron Smith left practice with a hamstring injury and now is likely to miss several months of the regular season, a huge blow for the Cowboys.
Tyron Smith could be out several months
During the Cowboys’ practice on Wednesday, left tackle Tyron Smith left early with what was initially thought to be a knee injury, but nothing serious. He underwent an MRI. The good news: His ACL is still in tact. The bad news: He suffered a hamstring injury that could sideline him for several months.
This is a huge blow for the Cowboys. The regular season is less than three weeks away and the Cowboys were already thin at tackle. Smith has a history of injuries and this exact scenario is exactly what everyone was worried about. He had missed time due to injuries in each of the last six seasons. Knowing all of this, the Cowboys still chose to cut La’el Collins. They picked up Matt Waletzko when they traded Amari Cooper away, but now Waletzko too is dealing with an injury. Who does that leave them with? Josh Ball. That is not a good thing. He has never played a regular season game before and has not been impressive so far in the preseason. A possibility for the Cowboys now would be to put rookie first-rounder Tyler Smith at left tackle and Connor McGovern at left guard.
“If we started today, Connor [McGovern] would start [at left guard],” said head coach Mike McCarthy. “Obviously, Tyler is coming on strong and has done some good things. Tyler is just like the rest of our rookies, he needs reps to get better.”
Another option would be to pick up a free agent or try to make a trade. For some reason, the Cowboys seem to be against that option though, or at least they have been so far. So, we will see.
Jerry Jones doesn’t expect Gallup to stay on PUP
Wide receiver Michael Gallup was not moved to the Reserve PUP list yesterday when the Cowboys made their roster moves to cut the team down to 80. There was speculation that could mean there is some hope that he would not need to stay on the PUP list to start the season, which would be good news for the Cowboys - something they desperately need. Later on Wednesday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that he doesn’t expect Gallup to stay on the PUP list once the Cowboys make their final roster cuts on Tuesday.
If Gallup were to stay on the list, he would be obligated to miss the first four games of the regular season. It would give the Cowboys the space to keep one of the younger receivers. If he comes off of it, he is free to join the team again whenever he is ready and the Cowboys will need to cut one of the young guys, which would likely be either Simi Fehoko or Dennis Houston. Though the tweet says there’s a chance (there is, technically), it’s still unlikely Gallup will be ready by the season opener against Tampa Bay on September 11, but it does mean we could see him within the first four weeks, which is positive for the Cowboys, who are wearing thin at the WR position.
Brett Maher to be the Cowboys new starting kicker...for now
When the Cowboys made their cuts yesterday, they waived kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, leaving Brett Maher as the sole kicker. While that should be good news for Maher, who’s played with the Cowboys in the past, he knows all too well how fragile the position is.
“My process and my mindset stays the same,” Maher said. “I’ve got to continue to focus on every single day and every single week and just try to stack those together because this league is so volatile lessons along the way, I need to make sure I stay in my zone do what I need to do.”
Maher played for a while in the CFL and then bounced around to different teams in the NFL, Dallas being one of them. He replaced Dan Bailey in 2018, but struggled the next year, making just 66.7% of field goal attempts. He was eventually replaced by Kai Forbath. The 32-year-old has not been able to stay in one place for long since then, so he is entering the starting role with the Cowboys with caution.
“You never really know, to be honest with you,” Maher said. “And like I said before, my plan for the week doesn’t change. So yeah, it’s about making kicks. That’s what it always has been about. That’s where it will always be.”