Stephen Jones finally shuts door, says Travis Frederick unlikely to play at all in 2018

The Dallas Cowboys don’t expect Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick, who has been sidelined since the start of the season with Guillian-Barre Syndrome, to return at all in 2018.

That was the word from vice president Stephen Jones on his radio show on 105.3 The Fan Monday morning when he officially acknowledged the obvious while giving injury updates for the Cowboys (7-5), who are heading into the final four games of the season, riding a four-game winning streak and in first place in the NFC East.

Jones said there was a good shot that left tackle Tyron Smith, who missed the past two games, plays against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday. He said the same for receiver Cole Beasley, who suffered a sprained foot against the New Orleans Saints last Thursday.

Jones said there is outside shot that linebacker Sean Lee, who missed the past four games with a hamstring injury, returns. And they will evaluate receiver Tavon Austin (hamstring) and defensive tackle David Irving (ankle) in practice this week to determine their availability. Irving has missed the last five games. Austin has missed the last six games.

But Jones basically shut the door on the long-shot hopes of Frederick returning. He said it was “doubtful that Frederick will play any football this year.”

This was the expected outcome since earlier the season when the Cowboys finally put him on injured reserve after initially keeping him on the active roster in hopes of there being an outside possibility he could return within the first two months.

It was the Cowboys way of being positive and trying to offer Frederick some encouragement and incentive.

But this new acknowledgment is not a setback. This is the reality of the situation that was the most likely result from the start.

Frederick, who has started to have the sensation return to his fingers, is still expected to have a full recovery and possibly return next season.

But he still a long ways away.

Former career back up Joe Looney has started every game in his place this season and has played better than anticipated. Frederick will continue to work with the offensive linemen as an assistant to position coach Marc Colombo.

This story was originally published December 3, 2018 at 1:58 PM.