IR-return season is upon us, and the Cowboys will make a key move on the first day. Tyler Smith is returning to practice this week, per Brian Schottenheimer (via All City DLLS’ Clarence Hill).
The Cowboys placed Smith on IR shortly after cutdown day, with thumb surgery delaying the All-Pro guard’s 2026 debut. Although the Cowboys are set for a Thursday game against the Buccaneers, Smith’s Monday return designation will make him eligible for an activation ahead of that matchup.
A return in Week 5 may be more likely than not, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota. While this is a quick return in terms of practice time, Smith looks to have recovered from the UCL thumb injury he sustained this summer (via the Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins).
If/once Smith is activated — presumably by Week 6 at the latest, given the mini-bye on Dallas’ schedule — the Cowboys will be down to five injury activations remaining during the regular season. The team used its two allotted August IR-return designations on linebacker Marist Liufau and cornerback Devin Moore. Those two already count against Dallas’ activation total, but neither is returning to practice this week.
Through four games, the Cowboys rank 31st in run block win rate and 16th in pass block win rate. A three-time Pro Bowler who earned an All-Pro accolade in 2023, Smith is on track to help Dallas’ front soon.
The Cowboys have been using T.J. Bass, whom they protected via a second-round RFA tender this offseason, at left guard in place of Smith. The high-priced guard’s return will reprise the Cowboys’ 2025 startling O-line, as the other regulars — Tyler Guyton, Cooper Beebe, Tyler Booker and Terence Steele — have started four games apiece.
Pro Football Focus has ranked Smith in the top 17 among guards in each of his three seasons there, as the Cowboys slotted the 2022 first-rounder at left tackle — in place of the injured Tyron Smith — as a rookie. While a Tyler Smith-LT return has come up at various points since, Dallas has kept him at LG. The team has the Tulsa alum on a four-year, $96MM extension — one agreed to last summer.
