Second-year linebacker Jaylon Smith has been participating in the Cowboys' voluntary offseason workouts at The Star. Smith missed his entire rookie season recovering from a severe knee injury suffered in his final game at Notre Dame.

Jones provided the latest update on Smith's progress.

"He's doing great," Jones said. "He's making great improvements. We're certainly more fired up than ever that we picked him last year."

Although it's unclear how much Smith will be able to do during organized team activities and minicamp, the Cowboys are optimistic he'll make a significant contribution this season.

"When you look at how we improve our defense over last year, him and [fourth-rounder Charles] Tapper both, as we all know, were high picks for us that didn't contribute last year," Jones said. "We certainly have high hopes for both of those guys and feel like they're going to be ready to go here when OTAs and minicamp start."