Signing to the practice squad gives Peters time to work on football shape and give the Cowboys some roster flexibility. Peters, 40, visited The Star late last week and was medically cleared. The move comes after the Cowboys lost eight-time Pro Bowl tackle Tyron Smith until at least December because of a hamstring tear that required surgery. Adding Peters at least provides them with safety if first round pick Tyler Smith struggles at left tackle.
1 Related Tyler Smith spent all of training camp competing for the starting left guard job and started working at left tackle in just two practices last week. The Cowboys resume practice Monday in preparation for Sunday’s season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “I’m ready to do whatever I have to do to help the team,” Tyler Smith said last week. “Tyron got hurt, it was tragic for me. To have a guy like that, the cornerstone of this team, to have something like that happen is the nature of football. It was a huge shock to the program for sure and I knew it was asked of me, I should upload and fill it out.” Peters started 15 games last year for the Chicago Bears and is entering his 18th season. He spent most of his career (11 years) with the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys don’t have a veteran backup tackle. Josh Ball didn’t play as a rookie last season with an ankle injury, and fifth-round pick Matt Waletzko missed most of training camp with a shoulder injury that will eventually require surgery. How quickly Peters gets up to speed depends on what kind of shape he’s in since he’s not in a team’s offseason conditioning program. Injuries have also been a problem for Peters. He has played a full season just once since 2017.
