OXNARD, Calif. -- Dallas Cowboys guard Rob Jones suffered a broken bone in his neck in Sunday's practice that will keep him out two to three months, the team announced.
Jones, who signed a one-year, $3.75 million deal with the Cowboys as a free agent in March, was hurt late in practice but he spent time post-practice working with first-round pick Tyler Booker on their craft.
He underwent an exam and further testing, including an MRI, after practice that revealed the injury, which will not require surgery.
Jones started 30 of 49 games in four years with the Miami Dolphins before joining the Cowboys with a deal that guaranteed him $3 million.
Booker has taken most of the snaps with the starters at left guard, but Jones was with the starters on Saturday.
"Rob Jones has been doing some really, really good things," coach Brian Schottenheimer said before Sunday's practice.
"Tyler's kind of hitting that mark where he's a little bit like, 'Whoa.' Doing some good things, but doing some things that weren't to the standard. So what do you do? You make a change. Is it permanent? I don't know. I think Tyler's going to be back out there with the ones. But you don't stand up here and have the central theme of your program be, 'Compete every day,' and if a guy's performing well and not reward him."