'I'm free': Dallas Cowboys RT Terence Steele embracing healthy season

FRISCO — You may have missed it. And if you did, I don’t blame you, because I also didn’t notice it until Dallas Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele told me so earlier this week.

You remember that brace he wore on his left knee last season? That’s gone now.

“It was weird,” Steele said about wearing the brace. “It kind of messed with my mobility, but it was smart to have it for extra protection. But I don’t need it now.”

Steele’s voice elevated a little bit during that last part. For a tackle who hangs his ability on getting in space and being mobile, he sounded excited about not having a brace to limit him. He sounded free.

I may have not noticed the lack of a brace in Week 1, but his head coach — even before the season opener — noticed a difference in Steele from the year before.

“I think he’s in a great head space, No. 1,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said before Sunday’s 33-17 win over Cleveland. “I thought He did a tremendous job with that last year. But he’s clearly in a much better groove today than he was this time last year.”

Steele, like the rest of the Cowboys, got off to a solid start against the Browns. He allowed only one pressure, which resulted in a sack, according to Pro Football Focus, but his run blocking and pass blocking grades were all higher than his averages from a season ago. His overall grade of 67.9 would’ve been the third-highest PFF grade he had all last season. It also came against a tough Browns defensive line that featured plenty of reps against Z’Darius Smith and Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

“I think he’s off to a good start,” McCarthy said of Steele, before pivoting slightly. “I think we kind of gloss over what we accomplished last year.”

Steele suffered a torn ACL on Dec. 11, 2022 — in a Week 14 game against the Houston Texans. Steele didn’t miss a game the following season.

Being back on the field didn’t mean Steele was back to his full self, however. He allowed eight sacks and 56 pressures on the season, according to PFF. In a November road loss to Philadelphia, Steele allowed 12 pressures and four sacks.

“I think clearly, when you watch him practice this time of year compared to last time of year, he was going through some soreness and things early [last year] and that’s part of that first time you have to go through everything,” McCarthy said. “You’re eventually going to tweak a joint and the fact you’re coming off a surgery, it’s just different.”

The whole season was for Steele. Normally, the former undrafted free agent out of Texas Tech said he likes to take three-to-four weeks in the off-season to get away and relax. He’ll use it as a chance to get a mental break from the grind of the year. Last season, he couldn’t.

“In the off-season, I was thinking, ‘Man, this time last year I was with Britt [Brown] doing rehab, or not being able to do as much as I wanted,'” Steele recalled, “but it is what it was at that time.”

This off-season was different. Steele got his mental break away from the game. He took a few vacations with family and his girlfriend. He had the chance to relax with friends around the area. And then, when his normally scheduled break was over, he was able to hit the ground running this off-season.

“It just felt good,” Steele said.

The rehab plan from last season was gone. Now, so is the knee brace.

For some, adding a brace may seem like a small thing. It’s supposed to help, right? It was necessary for Steele, but ultimately unwanted — a constant reminder that he was healthy enough to play, but not yet back to being the player he was before his injury. He had his best overall PFF grade in 2022 before the injury (73.9). In 2023, he had his second worst (52.3).

“It pretty much affected all aspects of my game,” Steele said. “I like to progress downfield and chase after the ball, and sometimes last year, I didn’t feel like I was fast enough, or just felt restricted in that way. Now I’m free, man. I’m taking full advantage of it, and just playing the game how I want to play it.”