Report: Peanut allergy caused Mazi Smith's severe reaction, forced him to miss Cowboys' preseason game

It can be the smallest of things.

Defensive tackle Mazi Smith didn’t play in Saturday night’s preseason matchup against the Raiders. In fact, he didn’t even make the trip to Las Vegas, as an allergic reaction suffered on Friday kept last year’s first-round draft pick from traveling with the team at all.

Now some details of the episode have come to light, revealing that the 6-foot-3-inch, 328-pounder was frighteningly sidelined by the same common food allergy that affects 1-2% of the U.S. population.

According to an X post Monday by Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who cited a source, Smith has a peanut allergy. A severe reaction he suffered while on the team bus- before it departed for the airport for the flight to Las Vegas- forced Smith’s emergency exit and sent him to the hospital.

Smith was re-evaluated Saturday morning and officially ruled out of that night’s game.

Saturday night after the win, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters of Smith, “He’s doing much better today than he was yesterday. … Those things are always serious when you have an allergic reaction like that.”

The incident unfortunately cost Smith valuable game reps against many of the Raiders’ first-stringers during the teams’ second preseason contest, which the Cowboys won by a 27-12 final score.

Friday’s late-breaking development did give newly-acquired DT Jordan Phillips an opportunity to play perhaps a few extra snaps, although McCarthy explained that the plan was always to give the ex-Giant his first official game action since joining the club last Wednesday. Rookie seventh-round draft pick Justin Rogers also got some additional playing time with Smith out.

Smith reportedly felt much better by Monday and was scheduled to take part in the day’s practice session. The Cowboys travel back to the Metroplex this week and will face the Chargers at AT&T Stadium on Saturday in their 2024 preseason finale.