Tyler Smith returns as Cowboys make Joey Porter Jr. late scratch for Thursday Night Football

The Dallas Cowboys are set to use left guard Tyler Smith in Thursday Night Football after the offensive lineman missed time with a repaired thumb injury. The activation is a notable roster development for a team that has leaned on stability up front, especially when the injury timeline has been compressed enough to push a player through an injured-reserve window.

Smith’s return comes after surgery on Sept. 8 to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb. According to the report, that procedure sidelined him for four games while he was placed on injured reserve. The move back to the active roster indicates that his thumb recovery reached the threshold needed for game-week participation.

The Cowboys’ back end will also look different than it did earlier in the day. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was a late scratch due to an illness, meaning Dallas will have to adjust its secondary personnel and game-plan wrinkles on short notice. Late scratches typically force teams to reshuffle packages, communications, and snap responsibilities in the hours leading up to kickoff.

Taken together, the two changes highlight how the Cowboys’ Week-to-Week depth testing can arrive from both directions of the roster. Smith’s availability addresses an immediate need on the offensive line, while Porter’s absence affects the defensive backfield’s ability to match up and rotate through standard coverages and pass-rush looks.

Smith’s return is particularly important because a guard’s role is closely tied to physical touch and grip strength, especially when pass protection requires sustained hand placement and leverage. A thumb injury can complicate those mechanics, which is why the specific nature of the ligament repair and the time missed under injured reserve matter for evaluating whether a player can perform at full functional speed.

What to watch next is how Dallas uses Smith in his first game back, including whether he immediately returns to starting assignments and how the line handles both interior pressures and run fits. On defense, the key question is how quickly the Cowboys can stabilize their cornerback rotation without Porter Jr., and whether the coaching staff leans on additional boundary support or shifts scheme responsibilities to cover the personnel gap.