IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys reduced their active roster from 90 players to 75 by making several moves before Tuesday's deadline, including placing linebacker Jaylon Smith on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list, tight end James Hanna on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list and quarterback Kellen Moore on the Reserve/Injured list.
Moore fractured his fibula on Aug. 2 and with a three-to-four month timetable following surgery. Hanna underwent knee surgery in the middle of training camp and will spend at least the first six weeks of the regular season on Reserve/PUP.
Smith, the team's second-round pick, continues to rehab from the knee injury he suffered in his final college game at Notre Dame. Like Hanna on Reserve/PUP, Smith will spend at least the first six weeks of the regular season on Reserve/NFI, but the Cowboys drafted him knowing he could very well spend his entire rookie season on the sidelines. Not only did Smith suffer peroneal nerve damage – the nerve must regenerate on its own with time – he's also only nine months removed from his ACL tear.
[embeddedad0]"He's making progress," head coach Jason Garrett said. "He works really hard with Britt Brown every day on his rehab and he seems like he's making progress and recovering from his knee injury. Again, with him it's a day by day thing. You're trying to make strides every day. It's a long journey back for him. But he's worked very hard and he's handled it the right way."
In addition, the Cowboys waived the following players on Tuesday:
WR Rodney Smith
G Mike McQueen
G Dan Buchholz
WR Richard Mullaney
The following players were waived/injured:
CB Arjen Colquhoun
LB Henoc Muamba
Saturday is the league's deadline for final roster cuts to 53 players. Thursday's preseason finale against the Houston Texans at AT&T Stadium is the final audition for roster hopefuls.
