Cowboys rely on Dr. Dan Cooper's expertise in selecting Jaylon Smith

Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer


IRVING, Texas -- No team knows the condition of Jaylon Smith's surgically repaired left knee better than the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys’ head team physician, Dr. Daniel Cooper, performed the operation on Smith’s knee one week after Notre Dame’s appearance in the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl, where Smith suffered the injury.

While every team had the same information, Cooper’s intimate knowledge of the torn anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments and recovery, plus the attitude of the patient, gave the Cowboys an edge.

“It definitely helped when their team doctor does the surgery,” Smith said, “and I’m very thankful.”

Smith said he trusted the word of the Notre Dame medical staff as well as his late agent, Eugene Parker, who had a long history with the franchise, in that Cooper was the best available.

In February, Cooper was given the Arthur C. Rettig Award for Academic Excellence by the NFL Physicians Society for his study, “Return to Play Following Isolated and Combined ACL Reconstruction: 25 Years of Experience Treating NFL Athletes.” Among the co-authors was Cowboys associate athletic trainer Britt Brown.

Cooper’s specialties are surgical techniques for knee and shoulder injuries.

What makes Smith’s injury less common, however, is the damage to the peroneal nerve.

In a USA Today article, Cooper said Smith would likely need a redshirt season and that the nerve injury takes nine to 15 months to fully recover.

Cooper said the damage stretched Smith’s nerve “enough to make it go to sleep, but it wasn’t stretched enough to be structurally elongated or visually very damaged,” adding, “He’s had time for his nerve to regrow two inches, and the area of where his nerve was injured is six inches above the muscle that it innervates. I wouldn’t really expect him to get much innervation back into that muscle for two or three more months. Then once it does -- I’ve seen kids who are completely paralyzed like him on the lateral side and not able to pick their foot up at all [that] wind up being totally normal.”

Smith said Friday, “I get different sensations every day with the nerve, but it’s just timing. I’m only 3½ months out, so time will definitely tell but the knee is fine. That was cleared at the medical recheck, that the knee won’t have any issues. It’s just timing for the nerve.”

Here is another good article. And while my normal assumption would be that maybe his doctor is being overly optimistic to help his client out, I recognize that as the Cowboys team doctor I seriously doubt he would be anything but totally honest with our franchise. As the doctor that actually operated on Jaylon Smith he is one of the few people who actually got to see the damage first hand. He has a better idea of what shape that nerve is then anyone else.
________________________________________________________________________
Jaylon Smith's nerve issue still clouded, but surgeon says recovery odds 'very good'
Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports 10:45 p.m. EDT April 23, 2016


FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Jaylon Smith acknowledges it’s likely he’ll sit out his rookie season in the NFL. But neither the former Notre Dame star linebacker nor the doctor who performed his knee surgery are ruling out anything days before the draft – and Smith is already doing some football drills.

“When you’re in bed for six weeks, not able to move, not able to walk, you’re this dominant force, but yet you have to rely on people to do little things for you,” Smith told USA TODAY Sports during a break between workouts Friday at AWP Sports.

“It even makes you appreciate the little things, and being back out on the field – it’s so awesome. Not a lot of people know exactly what I’m doing right now. But I’m killing it.”

Roughly 3½ months removed from surgery to reconstruct his left anterior cruciate ligament, as well as all the structures on the lateral side of his knee, Smith is past deficit work and now working on functional compensation and progressions – some of which Friday involved dropping in coverage and swatting his way past a tackling dummy while wearing an ankle foot orthosis (AFO) device that helps him pick up his left foot.


A checkup by NFL teams last weekend in Indianapolis showed Smith remains unable to raise his left foot or swing it out to the side because of an issue with his peroneal nerve. But the "foot-drop" isn't a surprise at this stage, said his surgeon, Dr. Dan Cooper, who is “optimistic that his knee itself will be stable and a good knee and he’ll get all his strength back. And I also think he has a very good chance of getting his nerve recovery back.”

That’s because the lateral damage stretched Smith’s nerve “enough to make it go to sleep, but it wasn’t stretched enough to be structurally elongated or visually very damaged” like more severe injuries, Cooper told USA TODAY Sports. There’s normally a one-month lag time before the nerve regrows at all, and once it begins, the rate is only about 1 inch per month.

“He’s had time for his nerve to regrow 2 inches, and the area of where his nerve was injured is 6 inches above the muscle that it innervates,” said Cooper, who’s also the Dallas Cowboys’ head team physician. “I wouldn’t really expect him to get much innervation back into that muscle for two or three more months. Then once it does – I’ve seen kids who are completely paralyzed like him on the lateral side and not able to pick their foot up at all (that) wind up being totally normal.”

Asked if he expects to play in 2016, Smith said: “I want to play. Absolutely, I want to play. I’m a competitor. (But) if I’m not 100%, I won’t be playing. That does my career no justice.”

Cooper agreed Smith probably will take a “redshirt” year in 2016, noting that once a nerve injury is discovered, it usually takes around nine to 15 months to fully recover. He also said he knows of high school and college football players who have played with a foot-drop, “and it’s even possible that Jaylon’s good enough to play in the NFL if he doesn’t get his nerve function back.

“Worst-case scenario, there are surgeries, there are tendon transfers you can do to hold the foot up,” Cooper said. “Best-case scenario is he gets all his strength back. And then in between would be that he gets a lot of it back or some of it back.”

Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero.

I wasn't happy with the pick because of the huge risk of using the 34th overall on a hope and a prayer, but if he does get healthy, oh my.

Iamtdg said:

I wasn't happy with the pick because of the huge risk of using the 34th overall on a hope and a prayer, but if he does get healthy, oh my.

Click to expand...

I think we were both pissed with this pick. But it might work out. I hope.

Iamtdg said:

Click to expand...

Sounds like they could have traded down Jacksonville who wanted Jack and picked up the Jag's 5th. Ravens traded 38 to 42 and got a 4th, too.

ravidubey said:

Sounds like they could have traded down Jacksonville who wanted Jack and picked up the Jag's 5th. Ravens traded 38 to 42 and got a 4th, too.

Click to expand...

And then the Patriots jump us and we miss out. You can't just sit back assuming you know what other teams will do.

Cowboysrock55 said:

And then the Patriots jump us and we miss out. You can't just sit back assuming you know what other teams will do.

Click to expand...

I'd wouldn't have had a problem if we had moved down and then missed out. There were plenty of high caliber healthy players available in round 2 and to have added another pick or two in the process would've been fine with me.

VA Cowboy said:

I'd wouldn't have had a problem if we had moved down and then missed out. There were plenty of high caliber healthy players available in round 2 and to have added another pick or two in the process would've been fine with me.

Click to expand...

For a fifth round pick? I'd rather just get the guy I really wanted. I'm willing to live and die by my doctors medical opinion on Jaylon. It's the only person you really can trust on that sort of thing. Everything other teams say about his injury is just white noise.

VA Cowboy said:

I'd wouldn't have had a problem if we had moved down and then missed out. There were plenty of high caliber healthy players available in round 2 and to have added another pick or two in the process would've been fine with me.

Click to expand...

Personally I would have liked for us to have traded down a bit also, but it's done and over with now so really all we can do now is hope that his nerve fully heals.

If it does, great.. Then we hit a major home run. But that's a huge if.

Apparently they must know something that we don't, or I sure in hell hope that's the case considering all the talent that was still there on the board.

But then again, given our track record with our 2nd round picks it's not like we've had the best record with our selections anyways.

Cowboysrock55 said:

For a fifth round pick? I'd rather just get the guy I really wanted. I'm willing to live and die by my doctors medical opinion on Jaylon. It's the only person you really can trust on that sort of thing. Everything other teams say about his injury is just white noise.

Click to expand...

I still don't like the pick, but there is no reason to get cute.

It's disconcerting that they'd make a pick based on a medical best case scenario. This team has a habit of hoping for the best without preparing for the worst, when it comes to injury prone and injured players.

We've been stuck scrambling for LBer depth year after year when two or three of our starters go down. Drafting guys like Carter and Lee has been a big part of that.

If Smith comes out in 2017 and starts contributing, great. But I can't help but fear that the rose colored glasses that thought Romo could come back for a playoff run in November, are the ones leading the team to the assumption that Jalen Smith will be back to 100% of his potential.

Joe Fan said:

Personally I would have liked for us to have traded down a bit also, but it's done and over with now so really all we can do now is hope that his nerve fully heals.

If it does, great.. Then we hit a major home run. But that's a huge if.

Apparently they must know something that we don't, or I sure in hell hope that's the case considering all the talent that was still there on the board.

But then again, given our track record with our 2nd round picks it's not like we've had the best record with our selections anyways.

Click to expand...

Yeah, at this point we just have to hope for the best. I think it was an unnecessary risk with so many other high caliber players available, but now, it is what it is.

Cowboysrock55 said:

For a fifth round pick? I'd rather just get the guy I really wanted. I'm willing to live and die by my doctors medical opinion on Jaylon. It's the only person you really can trust on that sort of thing. Everything other teams say about his injury is just white noise.

Click to expand...

I don't know if it would've only been a 5th. Even so, if the trade was with the Bears we would've moved to 41 and still could've had someone like A'Shawn Robinson, Ragland, Austin Johnson, Michael Thomas or Jarron Reed. Many of the same guys we would've probably selected from at 34 if we hadn't taken Jaylon, plus an additional pick.

I was as stunned as anyone that we used a high second on him but it's not as though there isn't a precedent for this sort of thing. Shoot, we blew a 2nd on Bruce Carter who only saw time in around half of the games in his rookie season, contributed minimally, was a few years older and wasn't a consensus top 5 player. The one article says 9-15 months to recover and that's probably based on the severity of the damage as well as the individual's ability to heal.

Best case scenario, he's on the fast track and *could* be back by October. Worst case scenario is a complete redshirt season. High risk/high reward but with our recent history of second round picks, it doesn't really bug me that much. If nothing else, I know the kid has zero character concerns, no previous injury history, is a hard worker, a leader and true team player. Compare that to:

Randy Gregory(Suspended)
Demarcus Lawrence(Suspended)
Gavin Escobar(Bust at this point)
Bruce Carter(Gone)
Sean Lee(Best of the bunch in recent years)
Martellus Bennett(Bust in Dallas)
Anthony Fasano(Ended up having a decent career beyond Dallas)
Kevin Burnett(Decent career beyond Dallas)
Julius Jones(Shined for awhile, flared out quick)
Jacob Rogers(Yeah, no)
Al Johnson(Decent career beyond Dallas)
Andre Gurode(Second best 2nd rounder to Lee)
Antonio Bryant(All hat, no saddle/Immature twit)
Quinthy Carter (Traded up for him?? Really?)
Tony Dixon(Oh yeah, that guy)
Dwayne Goodrich(Spent his prime years in prison)

Generally speaking, Dallas sucks when it comes to 2nd round picks to begin with in the 21st century so it really doesn't bother me much.

It is like having another first round pick in 2017!

DLK150 said:

I was as stunned as anyone that we used a high second on him but it's not as though there isn't a precedent for this sort of thing. Shoot, we blew a 2nd on Bruce Carter who only saw time in around half of the games in his rookie season, contributed minimally, was a few years older and wasn't a consensus top 5 player. The one article says 9-15 months to recover and that's probably based on the severity of the damage as well as the individual's ability to heal.

Best case scenario, he's on the fast track and *could* be back by October. Worst case scenario is a complete redshirt season. High risk/high reward but with our recent history of second round picks, it doesn't really bug me that much. If nothing else, I know the kid has zero character concerns, no previous injury history, is a hard worker, a leader and true team player. Compare that to:

Randy Gregory(Suspended)
Demarcus Lawrence(Suspended)
Gavin Escobar(Bust at this point)
Bruce Carter(Gone)
Sean Lee(Best of the bunch in recent years)
Martellus Bennett(Bust in Dallas)
Anthony Fasano(Ended up having a decent career beyond Dallas)
Kevin Burnett(Decent career beyond Dallas)
Julius Jones(Shined for awhile, flared out quick)
Jacob Rogers(Yeah, no)
Al Johnson(Decent career beyond Dallas)
Andre Gurode(Second best 2nd rounder to Lee)
Antonio Bryant(All hat, no saddle/Immature twit)
Quinthy Carter (Traded up for him?? Really?)
Tony Dixon(Oh yeah, that guy)
Dwayne Goodrich(Spent his prime years in prison)

Generally speaking, Dallas sucks when it comes to 2nd round picks to begin with in the 21st century so it really doesn't bother me much.

Click to expand...

I think Dallas's terrible track record with 2nds is what bugs me most about it. What are the odds that we got a "steal" in the 2nd round, with our track record? 2nd round is when we always overthink our approach, it's where we decide to draft for our 2 TE scheme (that we never actually feature), or grab a 1st round talent, with a massive red flag attached.

This feels like Jerry style wildcatting. A lot of people in DFW are criticizing the Zeke pick as a Jerry pick. But they aren't paying attention. Jerry will almost always talk himself out of a sure thing. (I still have issues with picking Zeke but it was much safer than wasting pick on Ramsey). Jerry always wants to see wants to see what's behind door #3.

Just be thankful. Until a few years ago we were wildcatting the whole draft. At least we get 1 player now.

Rev said:

Just be thankful. Until a few years ago we were wildcatting the whole draft. At least we get 1 player now.

Click to expand...

Truth. We've been taking a safe player every year since 2011 in the first, with exception to Claiborne. Notably we even reached a little for Frederick. Sometimes it's better to ask the plain girl out than hook up with the hot one that might be over her gonorrhea infection.

townsend said:

I think Dallas's terrible track record with 2nds is what bugs me most about it. What are the odds that we got a "steal" in the 2nd round, with our track record? 2nd round is when we always overthink our approach, it's where we decide to draft for our 2 TE scheme (that we never actually feature), or grab a 1st round talent, with a massive red flag attached.

This feels like Jerry style wildcatting. A lot of people in DFW are criticizing the Zeke pick as a Jerry pick. But they aren't paying attention. Jerry will almost always talk himself out of a sure thing. (I still have issues with picking Zeke but it was much safer than wasting pick on Ramsey). Jerry always wants to see wants to see what's behind door #3.

Click to expand...

Or it could be we are due to hit it big.