When the Dallas Cowboys take the field on Sunday evening for their season opener, it will mark the first regular season game back for Jaylon Smith since suffering a devastating knee injury with nerve damage in his final collegiate appearance with Notre Dame.
According to Todd Archer of ESPN, Smith will be taking part in his first official game in the starting lineup at middle linebacker.
Jaylon Smith is likely to start Sunday's game vs. the Giants and he has no bigger fan than the linebacker next to him, Sean Lee. “I'm extremely comfortable with him,” Lee said. “The type of work he's put in to come back, what he's looked like in the OTAs, what he's looked like in training camp, he's ready to play.”
It has been a long path back to recovery for the 22-year-old since suffering his potentially career-threatening knee injury at Notre Dame in the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. Smith has worked his way back to full strength from the injury and has a prime opportunity to become a high-impact player for the Cowboys this upcoming season.
Prior to his knee injury, the former second round pick of the 2016 NFL Draft was viewed as one of the most talented defensive players at the collegiate level. He had earned a pair of First-Team All-Independent selection, a Consensus All-American nod, and won the 2015 Dick Butkus Award, which is given to the top linebacker in the nation.
Now that he has fully recovered from the ailment, Smith could help form a solid linebacking core group alongside Pro Bowler Sean Lee for the next several seasons.
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