Cowboys LG Tyler Smith to have thumb surgery, out 4-6 weeks; TJ Bass starts vs. Giants

The Cowboys will open the season without their starting left guard. Tyler Smith is scheduled for thumb surgery on Tuesday and will be placed on injured reserve, missing at least the first four games of the year.

Coach Brian Schottenheimer confirmed the timeline: Smith will be out 4–6 weeks. The thumb has been bothering him for some time, and the team is opting to get the surgery done now rather than push through the early schedule.

TJ Bass will start at left guard against the Giants in the opener. That means Dallas' reshuffled front faces a brutal early gauntlet — New York, Washington, Baltimore and Houston in the first four weeks, then Tampa Bay on a short-week Thursday night in Week 5. Smith's absence takes a Pro Bowl-level anchor out of a line that was already adjusting its pieces around him.

For a team with Super Bowl ambitions, losing an All-Pro starting guard for the season's first month-plus is the kind of adversity Dallas will have to absorb immediately — and the offensive line's patchwork will be tested right away against a Giants front that expects to make life uncomfortable for Dak Prescott.