Cowboys' Smith ditches brace for drop foot

Jaylon Smith has taken a significant step toward a full recovery from the leg injury that ended his final year in college.

Smith tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee in the Fiesta Bowl in the 2015 season. The injury led to nerve damage and a condition called drop foot, a weakness in the muscles used to lift the front part of the foot.

Due to the injury, Smith slipped from a projected top draft pick into the second round, where the Dallas Cowboys selected him, and didn't suit up for the 2016 season. He returned to play in every game in 2017, and in February, he stopped using the brace he'd been wearing on his left foot and ankle to account for his drop foot, he told Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"Getting that flexion back is going to help tremendously ... speed, quickness, explosiveness," Smith said. "I have been feeling great. Everything is about getting back to 100 percent. Every day I am improving."

Smith placed fourth on the team in tackles last year with 81 and is bracing to make an even greater impact in 2018.