La’el Collins likely headed to IR; Cowboys still in limbo on Bryant

While the Dallas Cowboys remain in a wait-and-see mode on receiver Dez Bryant’s sprained right knee, their worst fears were realized on the status of guard La’el Collins.

Collins will need surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right big toe, a source said. He is expected to be on injured reserve with a possibility to return before the end of the season.

The early prognosis for Collins is 8-10 weeks.

It’s a huge setback for Collins, who suffered the injury in the third quarter of Sunday’s 31-17 victory against the Chicago Bears.

The powerful second-year player from LSU had hoped to establishment himself as one of the league’s top interior linemen in 2016.

It’s not as a big a setback for the Cowboys, outside of depth at the position, because of the presence of reserve guard Ron Leary.

Leary has 35 career starts, including 31 in 2013 and 2014 before being replaced by Collins last season.

He had lobbied for a trade in the off-season in hopes of getting an opportunity to start elsewhere. But the Cowboys resisted, citing the need for depth at the position and the lack of quality offers.

The move has seemingly paid off for both sides.

Leary gets a chance to play and start in what could be his final season under contract, making himself more attractive as a free agent in the off-season.

The Cowboys have proven veterans to fill in for the injured Collins until he returns, if at all.

The Cowboys are still unclear on Bryant, who suffered his injury in the first quarter. He missed a few plays but returned to the game, eventually catching a 17-yard game-clinching touchdown pass.

He was expected to undergo an MRI exam on Monday.

“Don’t have a real update for you,” coach Jason Garrett said. “We’re still evaluating Dez. We evaluated him after the game last night and that evaluation will continue.”

After the game Sunday night, owner Jerry Jones said Bryant was diagnosed with a sprained knee, though that prognosis was not definitive, either.

Bryant certainly battled through pain for much of the game, catching three passes for 40 yards and the touchdown.

“It looked a little bit to me like he could feel that,” Garrett said. “But Dez is a tough individual. I think we all know that. He was going to fight through it. He played a number of plays in the game. At the end of the ballgame he made a big play for us, the touchdown on the slant, where he caught it and knocked over a couple of guys to get into the end zone. He looked a lot like himself on that particular play. But again, we’ll see how he feels.”

Bryant missed seven games last season with an assortment of ankle, foot and knee injuries.

So the Cowboys know he has a high tolerance for pain and will do what he can to stay on the field.

“Yeah, he’s an incredibly tough individual,” Garrett said. “He’s mentally tough and he’s physically tough and he demonstrates that to us almost on a daily and a weekly basis. I think we saw that again last night, we saw it last year.

“Football is very important to him. The team is very important to him. He’s a tough-minded person who is always going to do everything he can to put the best version of himself out there. I know how much his teammates respect and appreciate that.”

Bryant has 11 catches for 150 yards and one touchdown through three games.

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 10:14 PM with the headline "La’el Collins likely headed to IR; Cowboys still in limbo on Bryant."