FRISCO, Texas – The Cowboys suffered a difficult injury blow ahead of their regular season opener, with head coach Brian Schottenheimer announcing Monday that Pro Bowl guard Tyler Smith would miss four-to-six weeks with a thumb injury that will require surgery.
In his place at left guard, the Cowboys will start T.J. Bass, who Dallas placed a second-round tender on during the offseason. Bass started five games for the Cowboys in 2025 and has started 10 for Dallas in the last three years. Schottenheimer has a "ton of confidence" In Bass' ability to step in during Smith's absence.
"Tyler Smith's a great player, but we feel really confident in T.J., and he's put great film on here," Schottenheimer said. "He's played next to Cooper Beebe, he's played next to [Tyler] Guyton, so that's nothing new, the communication and all that stuff…"
"We tendered him the way we tendered him because we trust this guy as a football player. He's a damn good football player that unfortunately is just playing behind a lot of really, really good players. So we have great confidence in T.J."
According to NextGenStats, Bass played 198 pass blocking snaps and allowed just eight quarterback pressures and no sacks. That was the lowest number of pressures among Cowboys offensive linemen with at least 190 snaps last season, and the only offensive lineman to not give up a sack.
During training camp, Bass would often times get work with the first-team offensive line in team drills when Schottenheimer and the Cowboys staff would give Smith less snaps in order to manage his workload as a veteran. Schottenheimer hopes those reps will pay off in a game setting.
"Offensive line play is tied together," Schottenheimer said. "We've gone into games with four new starters on the offensive line. I'm very, very confident that this group will play well against a really good front. I have great confidence in T.J. Bass. He's extremely bright, very physical, great athlete. He'll do a marvelous job for us, I'm sure, stepping in."
The earliest that Smith can return will be Week 5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Schottenheimer saying Monday that Smith will be placed on injured reserve/designated to return. Smith is the third player Dallas has placed on that list so far this season, meaning the Cowboys can only place five more players on IR/DTR for the entirety of the 2026 season.
When Smith's move to IR/DTR is official, one potential candidate to replace Smith on the active roster is Nick Leverett, who is on the practice squad and played both guard and center for the Cowboys during the preseason. Leverett is the only interior offensive lineman on Dallas' practice squad.
