Emmitt Smith Out Two to Four Weeks

Emmitt Smith is expected to miss two to four weeks after spraining a knee and ankle in the Dallas Cowboys’ 20-3 exhibition loss to the Denver Broncos Saturday night, and he could possibly play in the Cowboys’ season opener at Chicago on Sept. 2.

“This is the best possible news,” trainer Jim Maurer said Sunday after Smith underwent an MRI. “His rehabilitation should take from two to four weeks. Our goal is for him to be in Chicago. It’s not an unrealistic goal.”

Maurer said Smith had a first-degree sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee and that his ankle was slightly swollen and bruised.

Smith, seeing his first action of the exhibition season, was injured when his teammate, 340-pound tackle Erik Williams, fell on him in the second quarter. Smith stayed down for almost five minutes before he walked unassisted to the sidelines.

“Emmitt felt a lot better after he learned the results of the MRI,” Maurer said. “There was just a mild stretching of the ligament. We have him on around-the-clock treatment.”

Smith sprained a right knee ligament last year but didn’t miss any games because of it.

“Emmitt has had a lot of different injuries, but he’s always healed fast and had favorable outcomes,” Maurer said. “You have to be patient with this injury. “