OXNARD, Calif. — In the first week and half of training camp the Cowboys have lost starting right tackle Terence Steele for a few days with an ankle injury, backup guard Rob Jones for two to three months with a broken bone in his neck and now this: Starting left tackle Tyler Guyton is out until September with a fractured bone and sprained ligament in his right knee.
Team officials are hopeful Guyton can return for the Sept. 4 season opener at Philadelphia, but at this stage of training camp, the home opener against the New York Giants on Sept. 14 is a better target.
The loss of Guyton for an extended period could have been devastating, considering medical officials first made sure his ACL was secure. Once that ligament was declared in good shape, further examinations revealed the fractured bone and sprain in the knee.
So now, offensive coordinator Klayton Adams must get someone else ready to play.
Cowboys
“We create as much competition as we can, that’s the easy answer to it,” Adams said Tuesday. “You know, obviously, it’s unfortunate anytime you got guys who are going to miss [time]. But it’s also one of the reasons we don’t really believe in the old mentality of get the starters ready to play. We need to get everybody ready to play.”
Related:Dallas Cowboys’ OL depth is getting tested immediately after Tyler Guyton’s knee injury
If the season started today, there’s a chance Asim Richards, the 2023 fifth-round pick, and Nate Thomas, a 2023 seventh-round pick, would be the favorites for the No. 1 spot on the depth chart.
Richards has started just one NFL game, Nov. 10 against the Eagles when Guyton was injured.
“He’s certainly got plenty of talent,” Adams said of Richards. “Also, a good guy, who’s smart and tough and willing to learn. He’s going to be in that mix of guys that are going to get that opportunity now as well.”
Thomas missed last season with a knee injury and is improving each day in training camp.
The personnel staff believes Thomas is strong and athletic enough to compete for the job.
Stephen Jones, the Cowboys co-owner and chief operating officer, had strong comments about Thomas during a radio interview on KRLD-FM (105.3 The Fan) Tuesday afternoon.
“He’s having a really good camp for us,” Jones said. “He has exceeded expectations. He’s serious-minded about what he’s doing out there. We do feel like we have some good players there that can certainly do the job.”
Adams dismissed the notion left guard Tyler Smith should be moved to left tackle. Adams said if a player is a Pro Bowler at a particular spot, there’s no reason to move him.
This brings us to Ajani Cornelius and Garland native Hakeem Adeniji as the other candidates.
Adams said most of the backup players “need to play both spots,” whether that’s tackle or guard positions.
Adeniji replaced Steele when he was out.
“He’s doing a nice job,” Adams said.
The Cowboys moved tackle Matt Waletzko to guard, and he’s currently nursing a leg injury, so returning him to his original position doesn’t seem prudent.
Cornelius, a sixth-round pick from Oregon, is not ready to start so the practice squad is in his future.
For Adeniji, experience is a bonus. He was the Bengals’ 2020 sixth-round selection and started in Super Bowl LVI. He’s played for Minnesota as well, but last year he was placed on injured reserve by Cleveland with a knee injury.
Now fully healthy, Adeniji is getting his opportunity to not only make the 53-man roster but compete for a starting role.
The Cowboys like what they saw in Richards last season and gave him the starting gig when Guyton went down with a shoulder injury.
Richards was drafted under the previous coaching staff. When things change, so do the evaluations of players.
“And everybody on this roster needs to be getting better and that sounds like a cliché thing but I 100% believe in that and I know the head coach does too,” Adams said. “There’s danger in opportunity and we need to give several guys a chance to see what they can do.”
Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.