With Smith out for between four and six weeks, Bass will now be the starter at left guard.
The Tyler Smith news hit like a ton of bricks on Monday for Dallas Cowboys fans as head coach Brian Schottenheimer revealed the All-Pro guard will miss four to six weeks as he requires surgery on his injured thumb.
Attention immediately went to who would step into the All-Pro's shoes, and if there is a silver lining to Smith's injury, it is that guard is the position that the Cowboys are well-equipped to deal with an injury.
Why? Because the next man up is T.J. Bass, a three-year player with 48 games of experience (10 starts) who can step in.
With Bass now the one Dallas will turn to in the absence of Smith, the Cowboys will, yes, lose the talents of an All-Pro, but in T.J. they have a player who would likely be a starter on most other teams.
And Schottenheimer has full confidence in Bass.
"It's unfortunate, but that's why we coveted T.J. Bass, and I think he's played a lot of really good football for us, and we expect he'll continue to do so," Schottenheimer said.
There will be a step down in play, no doubt, when you go from an All-Pro to a backup, but in Bass, Dallas has a player who isn't a stranger to starting.
Plus, he has already played alongside Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe, as he started five games in 2025.
So, it is no wonder Schottenheimer is fine with Bass stepping in.
"Yeah, a ton of confidence," Schottenheimer added. "Tyler Smith's a great player, but we feel really confident in T.J., and he's put great film on here. He's played next to Cooper Beebe, Guyton, so that's nothing new.
"We tendered him because we trust this guy's a football player, and he's a damn good football player that unfortunately is just playing behind a lot of really good players. We have great confidence in T.J.
"He'll do a marvelous job for us, I'm sure, stepping in."
The Cowboys, if you want to say, did get lucky with the position, as Bass is more than capable of stepping in and playing at a high level.
Is there nervousness about Bass starting? Not from me, and it doesn't appear there is any from the coaching staff either.
The one position the Cowboys can absorb an injury is guard, and in Bass, Dallas' offensive line might be just fine as Smith works his way back from injury.
