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Cowboys' Jaylon Smith: May not start season on IR

Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones said Thursday that Smith (knee) would not be placed on IR, leaving open the possibility that he could play in 2016, ESPN's Todd Archer reports. "We'll take a chance he'll be back for the playoffs," Jones said.

Analysis:

The belief that he could able to play this season goes a long way toward explaining why Jones and the Cowboys were willing to select Smith as early as they did in the draft. Until the nerve in his knee actually shows signs of re-firing, however, any attempt to put a timetable on his recovery is fairly futile. If IR is off the table, expect the team to put a NFI (non-football injury) designation on Smith, which would sideline him for the first six weeks of the season and then give Dallas another six weeks to determine whether they want to activate him or not.

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