Dallas' dominant offensive line is down a man.
Guard La'el Collins is having surgery on his toe, Jerry Jones confirmed Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo notes that Collins had the toe looked at by three different specialists, but none could guarantee that it would heal properly without the procedure. The plan is for Dallas to place Collins on injured reserve and roll with former starter Ronald Leary, the odd man out once Dallas secured Collins as a high-profile undrafted free agent back in 2015.
The Cowboys are thrilled they kept Leary despite trade requests this offseason. It may have been tempting to secure a draft pick for an extraneous luxury, but now the league's best run blocking offensive line can simply plug and go.
Head coach Jason Garrett will now have to make sure that the loss does not impact rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott, who had another stellar game against the 49ers last week. Over the past two weeks -- 3/4 of which were played without Collins -- Elliott has put up 278 yards (5.5 yards/carry) and a touchdown.
