News: Jaylon Smith Acclimating Into Cowboys' Roster, Rehab Routine

[CCBoy]

Jaylon Smith Acclimating Into Cowboys' Roster, Rehab Routine
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/06/17/jaylon-smith-acclimating-cowboys-roster-rehab-routine


IRVING, Texas – He hasn’t taken a single rep, and he isn’t going to for the foreseeable future. But Jaylon Smith stands off to the side as a tantalizing reminder of what the future could hold.

While the rest of the Cowboys wrap up minicamp on Thursday, their second-round pick from last month will likely continue his usual routine. He’ll do light rehab work with the team’s athletic trainers, and he’ll be on hand to see the bulk of practice.

It’s a slow process. But for a guy who suffered a career-threatening injury on New Year’s Day, Smith said he’s happy with the progress he’s made.

“Great improvements. I think strength – a lot of those things. We have a great training staff here,” he said. “For me it’s just putting all my trust into our team physicians, and everything is going to be alright.”


It’s been five months since Smith tore his ACL and his LCL during Notre Dame’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State. Those injuries are intense enough. But as has been documented during Smith’s journey to the NFL, he’s also battling damage to his peroneal nerve – an injury which limits his ability to move his left foot...

 

[tyke1doe]

Smith also has the advantage of working alongside one of the game’s top linebackers in Sean Lee, who’s renowned for his football IQ, and passion for the game and ability to overcome injuries.

My fix. It's not just that Lee has a high football IQ and a passion for the game. But he has been injured too. I think that's very important also. Smith is teamed up with a guy who has had to battle through multiple injuries and return to be a top player. I know fans/posters get all antsy when others comment about Lee's propensity to get injured, but in this case, Smith benefits by having someone who has made the long, grueling and depressing journey from injury to full football recovery.

 

[CCBoy]

My fix. It's not just that Lee has a high football IQ and a passion for the game. But he has been injured too. I think that's very important also. Smith is teamed up with a guy who has had to battle through multiple injuries and return to be a top player. I know fans/posters get all antsy when others comment about Lee's propensity to get injured, but in this case, Smith benefits by having someone who has made the long, grueling and depressing journey from injury to full football recovery.

Good posting...

 

[phildadon86]

When this guy gets healthy, and yes im saying when not if, and if he returns to his old self we will have one of the best linebacking corps in the league. Now, im not worried about him getting healthy, its all just a matter of time. The issue for me is if he can return to his pre draft self. If he does, wow. Watch out.

 

[jazzcat22]

Plus Lee is a student of the game, lives in the film room. So Smith has a great mentor. So if he studies as lee does, he will have a very short learning curve once on the field and things slow down for him to see. His natural abilities and instincts will take over.
This will be great to see, and can't happen soon enough.

 

[CCBoy]

The Cowboys have been attempting to pull the trigger on just such a player, for about four years now. They have the player now.

 

[Longboysfan]

The Cowboys have been attempting to pull the trigger on just such a player, for about four years now. They have the player now.

Yes. They bypassed taking another TE this year with their second round pick.

 

[CCBoy]

Yes. They bypassed taking another TE this year with their second round pick.

C'mon, get into the conversation...an active and very mobile linebacker.

 

[Jarv]

Is the nerve firing yet? Is there a time-frame where if it doesn't fire with x months/years, it never will?

 

[rockj7]

Plus Lee is a student of the game, lives in the film room. So Smith has a great mentor. So if he studies as lee does, he will have a very short learning curve once on the field and things slow down for him to see. His natural abilities and instincts will take over.
This will be great to see, and can't happen soon enough.

I might get stoned for this but Smith is a better athlete then Lee if he learns from Lees football IQ he in my humble opinion will be a much better player

 

[LandryFan]

I might get stoned for this but Smith is a better athlete then Lee if he learns from Lees football IQ he in my humble opinion will be a much better player

If he does return to full health and play better than Lee, can you imagine the wrecking crew that our LB corps will become??? Of course, both need to get healthy and STAY healthy. Sure is fun to imagine, though.

 

[John813]

I just hope we can witness 2-3 years of a healthy Lee-Smith duo.

No doubt in my mind those two can be considered among the top if Smith can recover from his injury

Yes. They bypassed taking another TE this year with their second round pick.

This will be the year Witten goes down and we'll have people complaining we didn't take Hunter Henry in the 2nd. lol

 

[Sydla]

mrtxstar in...................... 5.................4.................3....................2.........................1

 

[Wood]

Is the nerve firing yet? Is there a time-frame where if it doesn't fire with x months/years, it never will?

as with any nerve injury (even people recovering from strokes) there is set time-frame most will recover in. There are some exceptions but for most stroke patients we give them 1 year to see what neurological recovery they will make. In Jaylen case he is 'regrowing' the nerve at rate of 1" a month. That puts him at end of august/early sept to see if the nerve has reached muscle and completely fires again thus giving Smith ability to lift his left foot without device.

There is chance the nerve that regrowing won't be sufficient and Jaylen never gets full recovery back in that foot. Its really luck of the draw. According to surgeon there were cases where patient was completely paralyzed on one side and returned to normal. So this can go either way and I would temper any expectations until we start seeing tweets from Jaylen about how he doesn't need his device anymore.

Also, this was piece of info I learned later in that Smith thinks he can still play again even if he doesn't get 100% nerve recovery. Everything about the guy is elite (twitch, football intelligence, preparation, desire, etc) so I certainly wouldn't bet against him.

 

[Jarv]

as with any nerve injury (even people recovering from strokes) there is set time-frame most will recover in. There are some exceptions but for most stroke patients we give them 1 year to see what neurological recovery they will make. In Jaylen case he is 'regrowing' the nerve at rate of 1" a month. That puts him at end of august/early sept to see if the nerve has reached muscle and completely fires again thus giving Smith ability to lift his left foot without device.

There is chance the nerve that regrowing won't be sufficient and Jaylen never gets full recovery back in that foot. Its really luck of the draw. According to surgeon there were cases where patient was completely paralyzed on one side and returned to normal. So this can go either way and I would temper any expectations until we start seeing tweets from Jaylen about how he doesn't need his device anymore.

Also, this was piece of info I learned later in that Smith thinks he can still play again even if he doesn't get 100% nerve recovery. Everything about the guy is elite (twitch, football intelligence, preparation, desire, etc) so I certainly wouldn't bet against him.

Thanks Wood, great explanation!

 

[gambit187]

My fix. It's not just that Lee has a high football IQ and a passion for the game. But he has been injured too. I think that's very important also. Smith is teamed up with a guy who has had to battle through multiple injuries and return to be a top player. I know fans/posters get all antsy when others comment about Lee's propensity to get injured, but in this case, Smith benefits by having someone who has made the long, grueling and depressing journey from injury to full football recovery.[/qu

My fix. It's not just that Lee has a high football IQ and a passion for the game. But he has been injured too. I think that's very important also. Smith is teamed up with a guy who has had to battle through multiple injuries and return to be a top player. I know fans/posters get all antsy when others comment about Lee's propensity to get injured, but in this case, Smith benefits by having someone who has made the long, grueling and depressing journey from injury to full football recovery.

While reading this i was actually wringing my hands say "Yes Smithers Yes"

 

[plymkr]

Yes. They bypassed taking another TE this year with their second round pick.

That in itself zeros out the risk involved with this pick. Because if we didn't take take Smith we would have taken some worthless tight end. At least Smith has an upside. In fact, I think he has a better chance to contribute this season than Gavin Escobar. Like I'm not trying to be funny, I really think Smith will give more to this team on the field than Gavin Escobar.

So to me it's a win win situation.

 

[MikeT22]

I hope he gets healthy and back to his former self. We can't afford to waste such a high pick. And I'm sure we wouldn't have taken a TE if we passed on Jaylon, we were looking at defense all the way.

I didn't care for the pick at the time because it's such a risk and so many other highly talent players available. But if he comes back fine then it'll be worth it. We shall see.

 

[tyke1doe]

I hope he gets healthy and back to his former self. We can't afford to waste such a high pick. And I'm sure we wouldn't have taken a TE if we passed on Jaylon, we were looking at defense all the way.

I didn't care for the pick at the time because it's such a risk and so many other highly talent players available. But if he comes back fine then it'll be worth it. We shall see.

This was my opinion too. Didn't like the pick that high in the second. But it's done. Now I'm hoping he has a full recovery. If he does, then we've hit the jackpot. This defense has the potential to be great with Smith, Gregory, Lee and Jones. But there's so much risk intertwined with hope. So I remain cautiously optimistic.

And that's the thing about being cautiously optimistic. This team really has a chance to do something special with the talent it has accumulated: Romo, Elliott, Dez, Frederick, Martin, Tyron Smith, La'el Collins, Gregory, Jaylon Smith, Sean Lee and Byron Jones. But I have to temper my enthusiasm because there are so many question marks that accompany this team and this talent.