What It Means:

The Cowboys' second-round pick, Smith suffered nerve damage when he tore his ACL and LCL in January. Everyone else in the Cowboys' organization seems to accept Smith will not play this year, but Jones is holding out hope of a late-season or playoff return. Despite his optimism, it is unlikely we see Smith on an NFL field before 2017.

The selection of Smith was a swing-for-the-fences pick. Prior to the knee injury, he was probably going to be taken in the top 10. However, there's reportedly a chance, if the nerves don't regenerate, Smith may never return to his old form. If Smith is able to get back to 100 percent, because of the position he plays, he'll probably have more of an impact on the Cowboys becoming a winning team than their first-round pick, Ezekiel Elliott. Dallas ended 2015 ranked 20th in Adjusted Defensive Net Expected Points per play.