Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith: ‘So you were one of those guys who didn’t think I’d make it?’

Jaylon Smith wanted to be sure to spell my name right because, he said, “I want to put you in my book.”

The Dallas Cowboys linebacker was not kidding.

There’s a reason he wants to be sure someone like me is in his book.

“So you were one of those guys who didn’t think I’d make it,” he asked.

Nope.

“Thank you for that,” he said. “Seriously.”

I wrote off Smith after his first season because it appeared the devastating knee injury he suffered in his final college game would not allow him to return to the player he was at Notre Dame. He missed his rookie year, and then he needed a brace for the second year because he still was dealing with the dreaded “drop foot.”

After watching him run around in the Cowboys’ preseason opening loss against the 49ers on Thursday night I am ready for some grilled crow, served medium rare please, with a side of oysters, fries, beer, mac ‘n’ cheese, donuts, a ribeye and some kale.

Speaking of needing beer, if Smith really turns out, Jerry Jones’ decision to draft him in the second round in 2016 will make him look like a football genius.

Jaylon has the talent. Now he may just finally have the health, too.

Good for him. God knows he went through hell to do it.

“I just feel like myself,” he said. “It’s a testament to all of the people who had faith in me to help me get here now.”

You want good things to happen to good people, and Smith deserved some good health. His attitude and work ethic throughout all of this was inspiring.

Aside from the first drive led by Dak Prescott on Thursday night, the single most encouraging detail to emerge was the way Smith continues to run and move.

Smith didn’t look like some random guy hoping to make a team. He didn’t look like a guy just struggling to get his legs right. He didn’t look like a guy trying to protect a knee.

He looks and moves like a genuinely scary NFL middle linebacker.

Please do yourself a favor and don’t bother with Smith’s stats from Thursday’s game. He had one tackle, after which he did his “Swipe” move that, if things go according to plan, he will do more of in 2018.

Just focus on the way he runs. Smith no longer wears the knee brace, and he now runs and moves like a different player.

“Playing last year was a grind. It was a grind,” he said. “I kept a positive head about it. Thinking about the things I could do, I did it to the best of my abilities. And I did learn. And I cherished every moment I had, because I was able to play the game at the highest level. And I was not 100 percent.’

If he can just move the way he did on Thursday night, the Cowboys defense improves dramatically, and ‘18 first round pick Leighton Vander Esch won’t have to do everything right away.

If Smith continues to run and move well, he’s going to make plays.

If Smith continues to run and move the way he did on Thursday night, the Cowboys have no reason to limit his plays in order to make him a more effective player.

If Smith continues to run and move the way he did on Thursday night, he’s an every down player. He can play the run, cover defenders, and pressure a passer.

He had to play far more in 2017 than the Cowboys wanted, and about the best thing he did was to just be on the field. He made a lot of tackles, but not the types of plays that made him a projected top 10 draft pick. He was the embodiment of “Just A Guy.”

Now, assuming his knee has fully healed from that injury, he has every toy available to play like a guy who should have been a top 10 pick.

I’m ready for my crow, plus it will give Jaylon Smith something to have fun with when he writes his book.