The Dallas Cowboys begin their 2026 NFL season without Tyler Smith, who will miss Week 1 due to injury. Still, Brian Schottenheimer feels very comfortable with T.J. Bass stepping in as America’s Team prepare to face the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.
“Tyler Smith’s a great player, but we feel really confident in T.J., and he’s put great film on here,” the head coach said via the official team’s website. “He’s played next to Cooper Beebe, he’s played next to [Tyler] Guyton, so that’s nothing new, the communication and all that stuff…”
Schotty also added: “We tendered him the way we tendered him because we trust this guy as a football player. He’s a damn good football player that unfortunately is just playing behind a lot of really, really good players. So we have great confidence in T.J.“
Oftentimes, a player’s position on the depth chart doesn’t necessarily reflect their talent. That much is clear to Brian Schottenheimer, who has full confidence in Bass to replace Smith as one of Dak Prescott’s key protectors.
TJ Bass #66 of the Dallas Cowboys warms up prior to the game.
Protection guaranteed for Dak Prescott
The Giants will go all out in an attempt to slow down Dak Prescott, one of the league’s top quarterbacks during the 2025 season. However, they will have to contend with an immense talent standing in their way, ready to give everything he has to protect his QB.
Tyler Guyton will line up as the starting left tackle, alongside the previously mentioned left guard, T.J. Bass. Cooper Beebe will take over at center, with Tyler Booker at right guard and Terrence Steele at right tackle.
Brass’ numbers since entering the NFL
T.J. Bass went undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft coming out of Oregon, but the Cowboys snapped him up right away as an undrafted free agent—and he’s been a total steal for their interior offensive line ever since. Over his first three seasons in Dallas, he played in 48 regular-season games, earning 10 starts while logging over 1,000 offensive snaps and proving to be an amazingly reliable backup across both guard spots and center.
He’s even made history as one of only two undrafted offensive linemen in Cowboys history to appear in that many games over their first three years in the league.
