The Cowboys insist they are not worried about Tyron Smith’s sore back. The All-Pro left tackle’s absence from practice a second consecutive day invited questions about his back.
“We have a long way to go here. We’re just holding him out,” Jones said, via Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. “We just think the best thing to do is rest it. It’s not something that’s alarming in any way. It tightened up. But I have to emphasize it’s not in any way alarming.”
Smith spent last season managing his back because of a bulging disc that limited his practice time. He missed three games with the back as well as a strained medial collateral ligament.
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett was unsure if Smith’s sore back “is necessarily related” to the bulging disc from last season.
“They’ve certainly checked it out, and we’re taking it day by day,” Garrett said. “His back was bothering him a little bit, it was tight, so we’ll just take it day by day, and we’ll see how he responds.”
Smith is scheduled to fly with the Cowboys to Ohio on Wednesday, but he is unlikely to play against the Cardinals on Thursday night. The Cowboys are remaining in Ohio after the game to attend Jerry Jones’ enshrinement on Saturday night before returning to California.
The Cowboys already have had two changes to their starting offensive line, moving left guard La’el Collins to right tackle to replace the retired Doug Free. Jonathan Cooper, a former first-round pick of the Cardinals, is the front runner for the left guard job.