Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Report: Jaylon Smith's injured nerve isn't showing significant improvement

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:33 p.m. ET

Dan Graf

Former Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith dropped from a possible top-10 pick to No. 34 overall in the NFL Draft when doctors discovered nerve damaged in his injured left knee.

Teams knew it was possible Smith wouldn’t play at all in 2016 after tearing his ACL and LCL in the Fiesta Bowl, but the Dallas Cowboys were the team that took a chance on him because their team doctor had performed Smith’s surgery.

That chance, though, is dependent on the nerve damage beginning to repair itself, and that hasn’t happened yet, according to an ESPN report.

I'm told #Cowboys No. 2 pick @thejaylonsmith has experienced no significant improvement in injured nerve so far. Playing 2016 seems unlikely
— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) June 29, 2016

Armed with the best information on the former Fighting Irish star, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones declared in May that the team wouldn’t put him on injured reserve because there was a possibility he’d be back for the playoffs.

According to ESPN, the Cowboys remain confident Smith will get on the field at some point, but now they just aren’t sure when.

#Cowboys confident in @thejaylonsmith eventually playing. "He's going to have a 10-year career; we just don't know when it will start."
— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) June 29, 2016