The Giants’ defense can breathe a small sigh of relief.
Dallas, their Week 1 opponent, will roll into MetLife Stadium on Sunday night without Pro Bowl lineman Tyler Smith. The left guard will miss at least the first four games of the season as he recovers from surgery to repair a ligament tear in his thumb.
Smith originally tried to play through the injury before he and the team decided that surgery and an IR stint would be the best option.
“Unfortunately, when you’re an offensive lineman, grip strength and things like that are really important,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said, according to ESPN. “We know he’s a quick healer, and we want to get it fixed and he’ll be back for too long.”
“He’s such a tough guy. I can’t say enough about Tyler,” Schottenheimer added. “I mean just the toughness, but at the end of the day we can’t pinpoint when it happened. It’s just one of those deals that at the end of the day made the decision that we all did that the best thing is to get in front of this thing and it’s a long season so let’s go get it fixed.”
Smith, a Pro Bowler in each of the past three seasons, has missed five total games during his four-year career due to ankle, foot, hamstring and knee injuries. Smith had surgery on his right knee in February.
Replacing Smith in the lineup in East Rutherford will be T.J. Bass, who has started 10 games for the Cowboys during his three-year career.
