The Dallas Cowboys have received a crushing loss to their offensive line through the first week of training camp practice. Cowboys left guard Rob Jones has been working with the starting unit during the early part of training camp, but suffered a broken bone in his neck during Sunday's practice and is expected to miss two-to-three months now while recovering from the injury.
With Jones now injured and out for likely the first month of the season, the Cowboys will have to rely on offensive linemen to protect quarterback Dak Prescott. Other players that the Cowboys can use to protect Prescott include Tyler Guyton, Tyler Smith, Cooper Beebe, and Terence Steele.
While these four players will be crucial during Jones' absence, rookie right guard Tyler Booker now steps into the spotlight for the Cowboys' offensive line. The Cowboys drafted Booker with the 12th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Tyler Booker shoved into spotlight with Rob Jones injury
Booker was one of the best offensive linemen in college football during his three seasons at Alabama. Booker earned multiple All-SEC honors during his career with the Crimson Tide. Booker excelled at protecting the two quarterbacks that he played under, including Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe.
Booker allowed only two sacks in his 38 games in his three seasons for the Crimson Tide. He is the exact type of offensive lineman that Dallas needs to protect Prescott for the future. But now, he'll be asked to likely do so immediately while Jones is out with a neck injury.
Booker is currently set to start as the right guard for the Cowboys this season in the wake of Jones's injury. It seemed as if Dallas was trying to ease the rookie into the starting role next to Steele at tackle, but now there isn't that grace period following this injury.
The second options on the Cowboys offensive line, including Asim Richards, Dakota Shepley, Brock Hoffman, and Hakeem Adeniji, also now feel the pressure after Jones, who signed as a free agent this offseason, suffered the injury. While they're unlikely to see a starting job, their depth just became infinitely more important in Dallas.
The Cowboys have the rest of training camp and three preseason games to finalize their offensive line for the 2025 season. Dallas is set to open up the regular season on Sept. 4 on the road against the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.