Linebacker Jaylon Smith practicing again, Dallas Cowboys optimistic

OXNARD, Calif. -- Linebacker Jaylon Smith is practicing with the Dallas Cowboys after missing all of last season with a knee injury suffered in his final football game at Notre Dame.

Smith will still be limited, but he is excited and ready to go, just as is owner Jerry Jones who compared him to watching a No. 1 draft pick for the first time.

"It feels great," Smith said Monday. "Last year I was kind of a spectator just in the beginning stages of rehab. Now I'm in the mix and playing football.

"The plan is to work hard and every day. It varies as far as the scheduling. I'm just doing everything that they allow me to do."

Smith said his latest EMG test showed improvement in the nerve regeneration.

What are the next steps?

"Just constant growth," Smith said. "Everything we've done we've started off slowly and gradually progressed, and it's always gotten better. I don't anticipate that stopping."

He said he has no limitations, but just rust.

"When you take a year off there's some little work, ins and outs that you have to get back used to coming off an injury, but I feel like myself," Smith said.

While Jones is hoping for the best, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli doesn't know what to expect.

"No, other than I know he's a very talented and terrific college football player," Marinelli said. "I know his talent level, his character and how much he works at it. The next step is to start to get in Wednesday. He's never been in an NFL practice. This will be his first chance. I just take everything day by day, see how he does progress and give him a little bit more each day, and just coach him, coach him."