Dallas Cowboys allegedly reached out to retired Andrew Whitworth following Tyron Smith injury
Former Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth sparked intrigue on Thursday when he suggested he’s received calls since the Dallas Cowboys learned of a long-term injury to left tackle Tyron Smith.
During a broadcast of the 49ers-Texans game on Amazon Prime Video, Whitworth confirmed that his phone has been ringing a lot. However, after the broadcast, the former LSU standout denied that it was the Cowboys calling him directly.
“It has,” Whitworth said. “I mean, obviously, there’s been some things with the Cowboys and losing Tyron Smith. It’s just an awful deal. Such a great player, and a guy I’ve always loved watching play. It’s been a busy day of answering calls. The problem is they’re calling and texting the wrong person. They need to be texting and calling Melissa Whitworth and the kids, because they have final approval on whether I’m ever going to play football again.”
CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel
Whitworth took to Twitter to vehemently deny a report from ProFootballTalk, which used his words to say that the Cowboys did reach out. As he’s on the Rams’ reserve-retired list, he cannot discuss joining another team without Los Angeles’ go-ahead.
“In repeated attempts to make assumptions without asking people directly!” Whitworth tweeted. “@ProFootballTalk has got another story wrong and failed to take any responsibility! Have a great Friday folks!”
Jerry Jones projects optimism after loss of Tyron Smith
Team owner Jerry Jones was on the set of First Take on Thursday morning. It gave the hosts the opportunity to ask him about Tyron Smith just hours after he learned of the severity.
“We found this out in the wee hours,” Jones said. “It’s a setback. Anybody will tell you, one of the things about the game, for the best and for the opportunity of the unproven, you’ve got to take what you’re dealt and go on with it. We’ve got some good options here, we’ve got a team around him and we’ve got a defense that’s stronger than it’s been in a lot of years. So, we’ve got a lot, not to make up for not having him, but to go on without him.
“We’ll have him and we’ll have him at the right time. We’ll have him in that San Fransisco (playoff) game, or the equivalent of it, and maybe we won’t fall short.”
The Cowboys obviously need someone to fill in for the injured Pro Bowler, and luckily, they drafted a rookie in the first round who can do just that.
“We’ve played a lot of games without Tyron, not as successfully as we did with him, but we’ve got another guy by the name of Tyler Smith that’s come on the scene,” Jones said. “We’ve got some other young guys that we can step in there. All in, come playoff time, they’ll be readier than they would have been if that injury didn’t happen.”
Jones did not indicate whether or not the team would look to add another lineman to the roster as the 53-man deadline approaches.