FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys will open the season without their starting left guard after Brian Schottenheimer said Monday that Tyler Smith will undergo surgery on his left thumb Tuesday and be placed on injured reserve with a designation to return.
Schottenheimer framed the move as the end of a nagging camp issue rather than a sudden setback. Smith, he said, simply could not do the things the staff needed at a high level, and with a long season ahead the club chose surgery and a four-to-six-week absence. The Cowboys' own report and CBS Sports both put the expected window in that range.
IR carries a four-game minimum, so the earliest Smith can be activated is Week 5 against Tampa Bay on Thursday night, Oct. 8, if the return window opens on schedule. A Week 6 return against Green Bay remains possible if the timeline stretches.
Bass steps into the left side
The coach did not leave much mystery about the next man up. "That's why we coveted T.J. Bass," Schottenheimer said, and the plan is for Bass to start at left guard.
Bass owns 10 career starts, five of them in 2025, and returned on a second-round restricted free-agent tender. CBS Sports noted he has appeared in 48 games since 2023 and allowed two sacks and 15 pressures on 568 career pass-blocking snaps - useful context for a unit that will be asked to protect Dak Prescott against an early run of physical fronts.
Schottenheimer said he has a ton of confidence in Bass, who has already lined up next to Cooper Beebe and Tyler Guyton. That continuity matters: Bass is not being dropped into a foreign protection scheme or asked to invent chemistry in September.
Behind him, the club has floated practice-squad option Nick Leverett, a backup center, as a possible roster add when Bass locks into the starting job.
Early slate does not wait
The timing is awkward because the first month is stacked with interior pressure. Per the Cowboys' schedule and club reporting, Dallas draws the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans in the first four weeks - a stretch that tests left-side run blocking and pass protection before Smith is eligible to return.
The opener is Sunday night at MetLife Stadium against the Giants, Sept. 13, 7:20 p.m. CDT on NBC.
