Cowboys’ Jaylon Smith practicing after knee injury (Video)

Jaylon Smith had to sit out a year because of injury in his rookie season. Now he’s back on the field practicing.

The Dallas Cowboys drafted Jaylon Smith in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft. His draft stock fell drastically after a nasty knee injury he suffered in his last collegiate game. Originally projected to be a top 10 pick, the injury made teams wary of his ability to play again.

The Cowboys knew Smith would take at least a year off of playing football when they drafted him. He injured a nerve in his knee that took months and months to heal. The best case scenario was to have him back in his second year. It is beginning to look like Smith might able to take the field in 2017.

It’s clear that Smith still has a limp while running, although that isn’t completely unexpected considering what he’s coming back from. Hopefully his stride will improve in the coming weeks.

The Cowboys have had bad luck this offseason with suspensions to some key players on defense. Defensive lineman David Irving has already been suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing drugs. Dallas can ill afford to lose another key defensive piece if they want to capture back-to-back NFC East titles. A healthy Jaylon Smith could do wonders for a defense that finished in the middle of the pack last year.

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This is good news for football fans in general, too.  Smith was a terrific linebacker at Notre Dame before his unfortunate injury, and could be a very fun player to watch on the field this season. If Smith does end up playing this season, the Cowboy’s linebackers could be a strength of the defense instead of a weakness.

For now, it’s good to see Smith playing and running on the field again. Let’s hope he can stay healthy and have a long career.