Dallas Cowboys to Place Tyler Smith on Injured Reserve After Surgery

The Dallas Cowboys announced on Monday that guard Tyler Smith will be placed on injured reserve after having surgery on Tuesday. The Dallas Cowboys will be without their best offensive lineman, guard Tyler Smith, for at least the first four games of the 2026 season. According to head coach Brian Schottenheimer after practice on Monday, Smith is having surgery on his thumb and is expected to be placed on injured reserve. That means Smith will miss at least the first four games of the campaign, although Schottenheimer extended his possible timeline to up to six weeks. "Tyler Smith is going to have surgery on his thumb tomorrow morning," head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. "It something that he's just been dealing with and he'll probably go on IR, four to six weeks. At the end of the day, it just felt like he couldn't do the things that he had to do at a high level. We know that it's a long season, so it's unfortunate." This is obviously a brutal blow to the Cowboys' offensive line, as Smith is arguably the best guard in the NFL and one of the very best offensive linemen in the entire league. Thankfully, the Cowboys have a solid replacement, and although that replacement obviously isn't as good as Smith, he is still better than the backup option most teams have. Who is Tyler Smith's replacement? Dallas Cowboys guard T.J. Bass (66) at training camp at River Ridge Playing Fields. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect That would be T.J. Bass, who has proven himself a reliable backup during his time in the NFL. The Cowboys re-signed Bass earlier this offseason to a one-year, $5.7 million deal that is already paying huge dividends. A former undrafted free agent, Bass has been with the Cowboys since 2023 and has played snaps at both guard spots in that span. In over 1,000 snaps in the NFL, Bass has given up just 16 pressures and two sacks. In 352 snaps last season, Bass surrendered zero sacks and four pressures and posted Pro Football Focus grades of 62.9 in pass-blocking and 65.8 in run-blocking. — Sign up for the Cowboys Daily Digest newsletter for more free coverage from Dallas Cowboys on SI — Today's best reads This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/ as Dallas Cowboys to Place Tyler Smith on Injured Reserve After Surgery.